The Azores bullfinch (''Pyrrhula murina''), also known as the São Miguel bullfinch, or locally in Portuguese as the ''priolo'', is a threatened

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the true finch

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

São Miguel Island São Miguel Island (; ), nicknamed "The Green Island" (), is the largest and most populous island in the Portugal, Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The island covers and has around 140,000 inhabitants, with 45,000 people residing in Ponta D ...

, in the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

Macaronesia Macaronesia (; ) is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlantic, North Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of North Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of list of islands in the Atlantic Oc ...

in the

North Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

Taxonomy

The Azores bullfinch was first described in 1866 by British ornithologist Frederick Godman. It was formerly regarded as a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the

Eurasian bullfinch The Eurasian bullfinch, common bullfinch or bullfinch (''Pyrrhula pyrrhula'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family, Fringillidae. In Anglophone Europe it is known simply as the bullfinch (English regional, Shropshire: plum bird), as it ...

(''Pyrrhula pyrrhula''), but was

split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

off in 1993.

Description

The Azores bullfinch has a length of and a weight of about , with males being slightly larger than females.SPEA: Priolo Relative to most other finches in its family it is plump, with shorter wings and a longer tail. The plumage pattern is similar to that of the Eurasian bullfinch, though colouration is more sombre, lacking its bright pink underparts. It has a black cap, face, wings and tail; the rest being greyish or pale grey-brown. Males and females are virtually identical in appearance, though males may exhibit a faint pinkish suffusion on the belly and flanks.Ramos (1995), p. 5. The contact call is a distinctive short, flute-like, melancholic whistle.

Distribution and habitat

The Azores bullfinch is now largely restricted to a small area ( )) of native

laurisilva Laurel forest, also called laurisilva or laurissilva, is a type of subtropical forest found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable, mild temperatures. The forest is characterized by broadleaf tree species with evergreen, glossy and el ...

forest at the eastern end of São Miguel, asl (above sea level), mainly centred on Pico da Vara in the Serra da Tronqueira range, but also seasonally (September to December) around Salto do Cavalo, further westwards in the range. The latter population probably comprises juveniles following post-fledging dispersal. The species has never been recorded from the western end of the island. Necessary for the recovery of the Azores bullfinch is to restore its available ecological enclaves in the northern archipelago of Macaronesia. The process of species decline, which a significant portion of other endemic Azorean flora is also suffering, is favored by the expansion of invasive alien plants. Projects dedicated to saving the Azores bullfinch include the restoration of original

laurel forest Laurel forest, also called laurisilva or laurissilva, is a type of subtropical forest found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable, mild temperatures. The forest is characterized by broadleaf tree species with evergreen, glossy and el ...

habitat in the eastern monteverde of São Miguel.

Behaviour

Breeding

Breeding takes place from mid June to late August. Nests are built in dense vegetation in laurel forest, with two nests recorded as being above the ground, and are similar to those of the Eurasian bullfinch. Nests are double-layered with an outer layer of twigs and an inner one of grass, rootlets and moss.Ramos (2000) The clutch size is unknown. Young birds

fledge Fledging is the stage in a flying animal's life between egg, hatching or birth and becoming capable of flight. This term is most frequently applied to birds, but is also used for bats. For altricial birds, those that spend more time in vulnera ...

from mid-July, with the adults

moult In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is a process by which an animal casts off parts of its body to serve some beneficial purpose, either at ...

ing from September onwards.

Feeding

The Azores bullfinch's diet is mainly

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

, with the birds consuming a range of seeds, fruits, flower buds,

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

sporangia A sporangium (from Late Latin, ; : sporangia) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a unicellular organism, single cell or can be multicellular organism, multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungus, fungi, and many ot ...

and

frond A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...

s (unusual in birds), and moss tips, as well as some invertebrates such as

hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from ...

. Native vegetation is preferred although, when the range was more extensive in the 19th century, the species was considered to be a pest in orange orchards around Furnas. The bullfinches move up and downslope through their range according to food availability during the year. The lily of the valley tree ('' Clethra arborea'') contributes greatly to the Azores bullfinch's diet. This evergreen shrub or small tree, once believed to be endemic to

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

, but now known to have existed in the past on the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

(where it is considered extinct), raises questions about how it should be treated in the Azores. While it is considered exotic, it is possible that it was native to the Azores, disappeared from there before any botanist had the chance to record it, and was then reintroduced more recently. Despite being an "alien" species, it is a notable element of the bird's diet and therefore plays some role in its survival.

Status and conservation

The population of the Azores bullfinch is small; it was estimated to comprise 30–40 pairs in the late 1970s, 100 pairs in 1989, and between 60 and 200 pairs in the early 1990s, though in 2008 it was estimated at 775 individuals. It is the most threatened

bird and the second rarest bird behind the northern bald ibis (''Geronticus eremita'') in Europe. The population was once larger and spread over a wider range, but both numbers and range have declined since the 1920s following the destruction of areas of its forest habitat for grazing and agriculture, as well as afforestation and invasion by introduced plants, especially the Japanese cedar (''

Cryptomeria japonica ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' L.f.). It is considered to be endemic to Japa ...

'').Ramos (1995), p. 4. The entire range of the species is protected as a

Special Protection Area A special protection area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cer ...

, the Pico da Vara / Ribeira do Guilherme SPA (a

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

site), under

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...

. The main approach to conserving the species is the protection and restoration of threatened native laurel forest vegetation.

References

Notes

Works cited

* Bibby, Colin J.; Charlton, Trevor D. & Ramos, Jaime (1992): Studies of West Palearctic birds, 191. * Bibby, Colin J.; Charlton, Trevor D.: Observations on the São Miguel bullfinch, Açoreana 7 (1991), pp. 297–304
BirdLife International (BLI) Species Factsheet
*Bibby, Colin J.; Charlton, Trevor D. & Ramos, Jaime (1992): Studies of West Palearctic birds. Azores Bullfinch In: '' British Birds'' 85(12): 677–680. * Ceia, R. (2008). ''Monitorização da população de Priolo. Relatório da acção F6 do Projecto LIFE Priolo''. SPEA: Lisbon. * Ramos, Jaime A. (Compiler). (1995). ''Action Plan for the Azores Bullfinch''

* Ramos, J.A. (1998). Biometrics, weights, breeding and moulting seasons of passerines in an Azores cloud forest. ''Ringing and Migration'' 19: 17–23. * Ramos, Jaime A. (March 2000). Azores Bullfinch ''Pyrrhula murina''. ''Bulletin of the African Bird Club'' 7(1)

Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves (SPEA): Priolo

Centro Priolo - Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves (SPEA)
* Vester, F., Diamond, A. W., Peterson, R. T. (1989): ''Save the Birds'' –

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

External links

Birding Azores – Azores Bullfinch

ARKive: images and movies of the Azores bullfinch ''(Pyrrhula murina)''

Centropriolo – Conservation website for the Priolo
{{Taxonbar, from=Q786784 Azores bullfinch Birds of the Azores Endemic fauna of the Azores Azores bullfinch Azores bullfinch Endemic birds of Portugal