The Masafuera rayadito (''Aphrastura masafuerae'') is a rare

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

Alejandro Selkirk Island Alejandro Selkirk Island ( es, Isla Alejandro Selkirk), previously known as Más Afuera (Farther Out (to Sea)) and renamed after the marooned sailor Alexander Selkirk, is the largest and most westerly island in the Juan Fernández Archipelago of ...

(''Isla Más Afuera'', Outermost Island) in the

Juan Fernández Islands The Juan Fernández Islands ( es, Archipiélago Juan Fernández) are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic i ...

. The species is a member of the

ovenbird The ovenbird (''Seiurus aurocapilla'') is a small songbird of the New World warbler family (Parulidae). This migratory bird breeds in eastern North America and winters in Central America, many Caribbean islands, Florida and northern Venezuela ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

and only one of three species in the rayadito

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

. The species' natural habitat is humid montane scrub, dominated by

tree fern The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tre ...

s (''

Dicksonia ''Dicksonia'' is a genus of tree ferns in the order Cyatheales. It is regarded as related to ''Cyathea'', but is considered to retain more primitive traits, dating back at least to the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record includes ...

externa'') and

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except ...

s (''

Lophosoria quadripinnata ''Lophosoria quadripinnata'' ( J.F.Gmel.) C.Chr. is a species of fern that, according to DNA molecular analysis, belongs to the family Dicksoniaceae, where it is placed in the genus ''Lophosoria''. It is found in the Americas spanning from Cuba ...

'') between 800–1300 m above sea level (though they will descend lower during the austral winter). Masafuera rayaditos travel in pairs while feeding on arthropods; feeding occurs in the wood understory and occasionally on the ground in the

leaf-litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent ...

. Nesting occurs at high altitudes (above 1200 m), in small natural crevices in rocks. The Masafuera rayadito is a critically endangered species. Surveys of the species in the 1980s found between 500-1000 birds but by 1992 that had dropped to 200 and by 2002 only 140. The species is threatened by

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived the ...

, particularly

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of ...

s which trample and degrade habitat, but also probably rats and

feral cat A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...

References

*Remsen, V. (2003) ''Family Furnariidae (Ovenbirds)''. in del Hoyo J., Elliott A. & Christie D.A. (2003) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 8. Broadbills to Tapaculos'' Lynx Edicions, Barcelona
Gonzalez J. (2014). Phylogenetic position of the most endangered Chilean bird: the Masafuera Rayadito (''Aphrastura masafuerae''; Furnariidae). ''Tropical Conservation Science''. 7:677-689.
*Hahn, I ''et al.'' (2004) "Nest sites and breeding ecology of the Másafuera Rayadito ( ''Aphrastura masafuerae'') on Alejandro Selkirk Island, Chile" ''Journal of Ornithology'' 145(2):93-97

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q281040 Masafuera rayadito Alejandro Selkirk Island Birds of Chile Endemic birds of Chile Endemic fauna of the Juan Fernández Islands Critically endangered animals Critically endangered biota of South America Masafuera rayadito Masafuera rayadito Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN