Birdfinding.info ⇒ Last seen alive in 1938. It was regarded as common when described in 1886, but declined rapidly and by 1911 was found only in isolated tracts of forest on the eastern end of the island. Hurricanes in 1932 and 1944 apparently delivered the coup de grâce. 21 specimens exist in museum collections.
Grand Cayman Thrush †
Turdus ravidus
Extinct. Formerly endemic to Grand Cayman, where it inhabited dry forests, thickets, and mangroves.
It was reportedly shy and may have required dense forest to thrive. Habitat destruction during the settlement of Grand Cayman is believed to have been the primary cause of its decline, making it vulnerable to catastrophic storms.
Identification
Dark slaty-gray overall, with white on the lower belly and vent, white patches at the tips of the outer tail feathers, and red legs, bill, and orbital skin.
Most similar in plumage to the White-chinned Thrush of Jamaica, but its tail shape and pattern suggest that it was more closely related to the Red-legged Thrushes.
Grand Cayman Thrush, side view. © The Natural History Museum, London
Grand Cayman Thrush, dorsal view. © The Natural History Museum, London
Grand Cayman Thrush, ventral view. © Marc Schlossman
1969 Cayman Islands postage stamp commemorating the extinct Grand Cayman Thrush.
Notes
Monotypic species.
References
BirdLife International. 2018. Turdus ravidus (amended version of 2016 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22708835A129654803. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22708835A129654803.en. (Accessed February 24, 2019.)
Bond, J. 1979. Birds of the West Indies (Fourth Edition). Collins, London.
Hume, J.P. 2017. Extinct Birds (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London.
Johnston, D.W. 1969. The Thrushes of Grand Cayman, B.W.I. Condor 71:120-128.
Larsen, N. 2014. Grand Cayman Thrush (Turdus ravidus), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T.S. Schulenberg, ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.grcthr1.01.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.