Dusky Seaside Sparrow

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Extinct (1990)

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Emberizidae
Genus:	Ammodramus
Species:	A. maritimus
Subspecies:	A. m. nigrescens

Trinomial name

Ammodramus maritimus nigrescens
(Ridgway, 1873)

The Dusky Seaside Sparrow, Ammodramus maritimus nigrescens, was a non-migratory subspecies of the Seaside Sparrow, found in Southern Florida in the natural salt marshes of Merritt Island and along the St. John's River. It was officially declared extinct in December of 1990.

[edit] Causes for extinction

The dusky's demise began in 1940 when DDT was sprayed on the marshes for the control of mosquitoes. This pesticide entered the bird's food chain which caused the population to go from 2,000 to 600 breeding pairs. When Merritt Island was flooded with the goal of reducing the mosquito population around Kennedy Space Center, the sparrows' nesting grounds were devastated, and their numbers plummeted. Later, the marshes surrounding the river were drained, to facilitate highway construction; this was a further blow. Eventually, pollution and pesticides took such a high toll that by 1979, only six dusky seaside sparrows were known to exist — all of whom were males; a female was last sighted in 1975.

[edit] Last specimens

Five were captured and brought to the Walt Disney World Resort, to live out their days in a protected habitat on the Discovery Island nature reserve. By March 31, 1986, only one (named "Orange Band"), remained.

Despite being blind in one eye, Orange Band reached extreme old age for a sparrow, living at least eight years, and possibly as many as thirteen, before dying on June 17, 1987.