Bermuda Night-Heron (Nyctanassa carcinocatactes)

Posted on 31 December, 1610 in Extinct

Year Last Seen:

1610

Comments:

This species is known only from subfossil remains. It likely became Extinct during the early 17th century as a result of invasive predators and hunting for food by human settlers.

Habitat:

The species may have fed on large land crabs (Olson and Wingate 2006).

Causes:

It was probably driven to extinction by invasive predators such as feral cats, hunting, and perhaps a shortage of prey (Hume and Walters 2012).

Distribution:

Nyctanassa carcinocatactes is known from subfossil remains from Bermuda (Olson and Wingate 2006). Reports from 1610 refer to numerous herons fitting the likely description of this species (Hume and Walters 2012), but it probably became Extinct during the early 17th century shortly after colonisation by humans.

References:

IUCN Redbook Data