Nightingale reed warbler | |
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Nightingale Reed-warbler | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Superfamily: | Sylvioidea |
Family: | Acrocephalidae |
Genus: | Acrocephalus |
Species: | A. luscinius |
Binomial name | |
Acrocephalus luscinius Quoy & Gaimard, 1830 |
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Synonyms | |
Acrocephalus luscinia |
Acrocephalus luscinia
The nightingale reed warbler or Guam reed warbler (Acrocephalus luscinius) is an extinct song bird endemic to Guam. The Chamorro name for the bird is ga ‘kaliso. It has not been reported since the late 1960s and presumed extinct.
The Pagan reed warbler, Aguiguan reed warbler, and Saipan reed warbler are considered subspecies by some taxonomists.
The reasons nightingale reed warbler declined through several introduced species. One of them is the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) and has decimated the populations of several other bird species on Guam. Others include rats, cats and feral ungulates, escaped domesticated animals living in the wild, for example goats or sheep. An introduced plant, Ivy Gourd (Coccinia grandis), destroyed the canopy of the trees nightingale reed warblers build their nests in. Wetland destruction, fires and pesticides, as well as intense human land use (for example for agriculture, tourism or building homes) reduced the available habitat for the nightingale reed warblers and others species.