Critically Endangered
Juan Fernández firecrown
Sephanoides fernandensis
Juan Fernández firecrown is endemic to Isla Róbinson Crusoe, one of the three-island Juan Fernández archipelago belonging to Chile.
Appearance
The male and female plumages are so different, and even the female has a male-like iridescent crown, that in the 19th century they were thought to be different species until a nest was discovered with one of each sex. Both sexes have a straight black bill. Its forehead and crown are iridescent fiery reddish yellow and the wings a dark coppery gray.
Males are 11.5 to 12 cm (4.5 to 4.7 in) long and weigh about 10.9 g (0.38 oz).
Range and habitat
The nominate subspecies of Juan Fernández firecrown is found only on Isla Róbinson Crusoe in the Juan Fernández Islands of Chile. The putative extinct subspecies S. F. Leyboldi is attributed to Alejandro Selkirk Island. The species inhabits forests, thickets, and gardens, favoring shady areas.
It is endemic to Isla Róbinson Crusoe, one of the three-island Juan Fernández archipelago belonging to Chile. The species inhabits only one small island.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
The Juan Fernández firecrown forages for nectar at the flowers of native plants, especially Rhaphithamnus venustus and Sonchus brassicifolius. It may also feed on introduced Eucalyptus and Abutilon during autumn and winter when most of the native plants are not flowering.
Both sexes defend foraging territories, with males holding the more productive sites. The Juan Fernández firecrown's breeding season is from September to mid-November. The female constructs a small cup nest of woven fern fibers, other fibers, mosses, and spiderweb placed on the tip of a twig in cover, typically about 4 m (13 ft) above the ground.
In crisis
The IUCN has assessed the Juan Fernández firecrown as Critically Endangered. It has an estimated population of 1500 to 3500 mature birds or 3000 to 5200 total individuals and the number is believed to be decreasing. Also contributing are the spread of exotic zarzamora blackberry (Rubus ulmifolius) and maqui wineberry (Aristotelia chilensis), predation by domestic and feral cats, and destruction by introduced rabbits and goats.
A conservation effort was begun in 2004 by a partnership of several organizations (The Hummingbird Society, American Bird Conservancy, and Juan Fernández Islands Conservancy, Oikonos - Ecosystem Knowledge) with the aim of preventing extinction of the species. Their efforts included planting native species, removing non-native plants, and reducing non-native predators and competitors.
CITES lists this taxon on Appendix II. Confirm the current appendix on the CITES checklist.
Juan Fernández firecrown is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Juan Fernández firecrown, Wikidata item Q1271772. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
