Cocos island finch
The Cocos finch or Cocos Island finch (Pinaroloxias inornata ) is the only one of the Darwin's finches not native to the Galápagos Islands, and the only member of the genus Pinaroloxias. Sometimes classified in the family Emberizidae, more recent studies have shown it to belongs in the tanager family, Thraupidae. It is endemic to Cocos Island, which is approximately 360 miles (580 km) south of Costa Rica.
It is a chunky 12 cm long finch, weighing around 12.5 g and with a black decurved pointed bill. The male is entirely black, while the female is a heavily streaked brown, with a paler underside. The young are similar but have yellow bills. The standard clutch is two brown-spotted white eggs, which are hatched in a roughly spherical nest built at the end of a tree branch.
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe Cocos finch stands at about 12 cm long weighing in at about 12.5 g. The bird has a small pointed beak for eating berries and insects that are its main diet. They are sexually dimorphic in that the males have black feathers from the tail, breast, nape, and crown. Unlike male finches found in Galapagos island, male Cocos finches have black beaks year-round.
Female Cocos finch have a lighter brown complexion compared to a male Cocos finch. There is a black splattering of feathers on their breast area down to the flank and rump. The belly of the female Cocos finch is milky white compared to the mantle of the bird. The nape and crown area are more noticeably black.
The call of a Cocos finch can be described as a "buzzy" like sound with a high-pitched ending note. The beginning of the call can form a “djirr” sound followed by a high pitched “tiew” sound. Calls can also include a high pitched “phzzzz” sound.
The Cocos finch is exclusively found in Cocos Island (1,997 km2 area), 580 km SE from Costa Rica. Cocos finches are not known to have traveled outside of Cocos Island making its habitat and reproduction range to only be at 30 km2 within the island. The habitat of the Cocos finch is mostly within Hibiscus thickets, closed-canopy forest and woodland forest.
The climate within Cocos Island is described to be a typical rain forest climate with high humidity and chances for rainfall. The island has a varied landscape with bodies of lakes, streams, and caves and is home to other species including endemic lizards (only 2 species), small mice, small cats, and some migratory birds.
Cocos finch usually nest throughout the year; however, their breeding season falls usually at around January–February. They form a nest using lichen and dry moss as their main material. Eggs are in clutch sizes of about 4–5 with a distinctive pink/light brown spots.
Cocos finches face mammalian predatory encounters including native and introduced rats and cats in the island. Despite its predators, there is no evidence of high predatory pressures on the Cocos finches themselves. Scientists conclude that due to the low predatory pressures on Cocos finches, they have developed this specialized feeding behavior to evolve to a more generalist species.
Cocos Island is a natural reserved island and that there is limited human interaction towards the Cocos finch and to other Cocos Island inhabitants. While there has been increasing tourism around the island, there is no evidence of high disturbance rates from these tourists to affect the wildlife in the island including the Cocos Finch.
While the predation and disturbance rate of Cocos finch are low along with a steady population rate, the IUCN deems the Cocos finch to be least concern; about 30 km2 of the whole Cocos Island.
As of now, there are about 6,000-15,000 Cocos Finches living isolated in Cocos Island.
