Wood harrier

{{Short description|Extinct species of bird}} {{pp-pc1}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = {{fossil_range|Late Holocene}} | status =  | extinct = 1000 | image = | genus = Circus | species = dossenus | authority = [[Storrs L. Olson|Olson]] & [[Helen F. James|James]] 1991 }}

The '''wood harrier''' or '''mime harrier''' ('''''Circus dossenus''''') is an [[extinct]] [[Birds of prey|bird of prey]] which lived in [[Hawaii]] during the [[Holocene]]. This small, short-winged [[harrier (bird)|harrier]] inhabited the forests of [[Molokai]] and [[Oahu]] where it presumably hunted for small birds and insects.

== Description == When compared to extant species of the genus ''Circus'', the wood harrier was a small harrier. It had rather short wings but long legs and was even outsized by the small [[pied harrier]] and [[Montagu's harrier]].<ref name="olson67">Olson & James 1991, p. 67</ref><ref name="ziegler261"/>

== Habitat == The habitat of the wood harrier consisted of forests, where it hunted for insects or small birds such as [[honeycreepers]], since there were no terrestrial mammals before the arrival of the [[Polynesians]] in Hawaii. Due to its habitat which is unusual for harriers and because of its small prey, it developed shorter wings and a smaller body (rather resembling an ''[[Accipiter]]'' or the stilt owls ''[[Grallistrix]]''), making it a typical example of [[insular dwarfism]].<ref name="pratt"/>

== Distribution == The wood harrier was presumably restricted to the islands of [[Oahu]] and [[Molokai]], since there are no records from other Hawaiian islands. It probably became extinct due to habitat degradation and the introduction of the [[Pacific rat]] by early [[Polynesians]]. Since the wood harrier was most likely a ground breeder, it might have been affected severely by the colonization of Hawaii.<ref name="olson85"/>

== Discovery and taxonomy == In 1981, [[Helen F. James]] and her husband [[Storrs L. Olson]] first discovered remains of a bird they believed to be an ''[[Accipiter]]'' because of its proportions. This misidentification was also due to the poor material, consisting only of a few bones. They finally rejected their identification in 1991 after they had examined several other subfossil records of the bird and finally placed it in the genus ''[[Circus (bird)|Circus]]''. They named it ''dossenus'', explaining the name as follows: “Latin, dossenus, a clown or jester, without which one cannot have a circus; especially applicable here because the species initially fooled us as to its generic placement.” They noted that the wide global extension of ''Circus'' would support this placement and added that there had been sightings of [[northern harrier]]s in Hawaii so that the evolution of a Hawaiian species of harrier would indeed seem plausible.<ref name="olson85">Olson & James 1991, p. 85</ref>

== References == {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="pratt">Harold Douglas Pratt: ''The Hawaiian honeycreepers: Drepanidinae.'' Oxford University Press, 2005. {{ISBN|0-19-854653-X}}, p. 233</ref> <ref name="ziegler261">Alan C. Ziegler: ''Hawaiian natural history, ecology, and evolution.'' University of Hawaii Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-8248-2190-4}}, p. 261</ref> }}

==Bibliography== *[[Storrs Lovejoy Olson|Storrs L. Olson]], [[Helen James|Helen F. James]]: [https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/om/om045.pdf ''Descriptions of thirty-two new Species of Birds from the Hawaiian Islands.''] In: ''Ornithological Monographs'' 45, pp. 65–85, 1991. {{ISBN|0-935868-54-2}}

[[Category:Harriers (birds)|wood harrier]] [[Category:Holocene extinctions]] [[Category:Late Quaternary prehistoric birds]] [[Category:Extinct birds of Hawaii]] [[Category:Biota of Oahu]] [[Category:Biota of Molokai]] [[Category:Birds described in 1991|wood harrier]] [[Category:Taxa named by Helen F. James|wood harrier]]