Birdfinding.info ⇒  Known only from a single specimen collected in 1877 near Nassau by Lewis Brace, and fossil bones later recovered from cave deposits.

Brace’s Emerald †

Chlorostilbon bracei

Extinct.  Formerly endemic to New Providence in the northern Bahamas.

Identification

Similar to Cuban Emerald, but slightly smaller, with a longer, more decurved bill.  The male collected was mostly greenish with a golden cast on the head and back and a grayish cast on the belly.  Female plumage was never documented but presumably resembled other female emeralds.

Notes

Monotypic species.  For many decades, the specimen’s status as a separate species or hybrid was uncertain.  Fossil bones collected on New Providence appeared to confirm that it was a member of the avifauna and therefore a full species.

References

Fogden, M., M. Taylor, and S.L. Williamson. 2014. Hummingbirds: A Life-size Guide to Every Species. HarperCollins, New York.

Graves, G.R., and S.L. Olson. 1987. Chlorostilbon bracei Lawrence, an extinct species of hummingbird from New Providence Island, Bahamas. Auk 104:296-302.

Hume, J.P. 2017. Extinct Birds (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London.

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.