Species

Justification
This species was endemic to Lord Howe Island, Australia, but was driven Extinct by the depredations of introduced rats. It was last recorded in 1928, with none found on a survey in 1936.

Taxonomic source(s)
Brooks, T. 2000. Extinct species. In: BirdLife International (ed.), Threatened birds of the world, pp. 701-708. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona and Cambridge, U.K.
Christidis, L.; Boles, W. E. 1994. The taxonomy and species of birds of Australia and its territories. Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union, Melbourne.
Christidis, L.; Boles, W. E. 2008. Systematics and taxonomy of Australian birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
Sibley, C. G.; Monroe, B. L. 1990. Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. Yale University Press, New Haven, USA.

Distribution and population
Gerygone insularis was an abundant endemic to Lord Howe Island, Australia, until the island was colonised by rats from a shipwreck in 1918. It was heard frequently in 1928 (Sharland 1929) but could not be found on a visit in 1936 (Hindwood 1940), and there are no subsequent records (Recher and Clark 1974).

Ecology
It was a canopy-dwelling forest species (Hull 1909), feeding on small insects and spiders (Sharland 1929).

Threats
Presumably its extinction resulted from nest predation by rats (Recher 1974). Disease from introduced passerines may also have been a factor (McAllan et al. 2004).

References
Sharland, M. S. R. 1929. Land birds of Lord Howe Island. Emu 29: 5-11.

Hindwood, K. A. 1940. The birds of Lord Howe Island. Emu 40: 1-86.

Greenway, J. C. 1967. Extinct and vanishing birds of the world. Dover Publications, New York.

Recher, H. F. 1974. Colonisation and extinction: the birds of Lord Howe Island. Australian Natural History 18: 84-68.

Recher, H. F.; Clark, S. T. 1974. A biological survey of Lord Howe Island with recommendations for the conservation of the island's wildlife. Biological Conservation 6: 263-273.

Stattersfield, A. J.; Crosby, M. J.; Long, A. J.; Wege, D. C. 1998. Endemic bird areas of the world: priorities for bird conservation. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.

McAllan, I. A.W.; Curtis, B. R.; Hutton, I.; Cooper, R.M. 2004. The birds of Lord Howe Island Group: a review of records. Australian Field Ornithology 21(Supplement): 1-82.

Text account compilers
Brooks, T., Khwaja, N., Mahood, S.

IUCN Red List evaluators
Butchart, S., Symes, A.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Gerygone insularis. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 21/05/2013. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2013) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 21/05/2013.

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

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