The influence of coastal utilisation by man on the presumed extinction of the Canarian black Oystercatcher Haematopus meadewaldoi Bannerman

Habitat availability was the ultimate factor limiting population size in H. meadewaldoi, but the extinction of the species was probably precipitated by increasing disturbance and competition with man for food.

Abstract

There is no material evidence for the survival of the endemic Canarian black oystercatcher Haematopus meadewaldoi of the Canary Islands subsequent to 1913. An expedition to the eastern Canary Islands in 1985 failed to find any trace of the bird, and likely factors contributing to the species' extinction were investigated. There has been a progressive desertification of the eastern Canary Islands in the past few centuries, accelerated more recently by changing land-use practices. This has led in turn to an increased dependence of the islands' inhabitants on marine resources as food, with concomitant modification of intertidal invertebrate communities. Habitat availability was the ultimate factor limiting population size in H. meadewaldoi, but the extinction of the species was probably precipitated by increasing disturbance and competition with man for food.