Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Catalina Endemics

There are 22 endemic species and sub-species on Catalina Island. Endemic means that those species or sub-species are found nowhere else on the earth except there. Certain species are endemic to the Channel Islands, and others to Catalina specifically.
The Avalon Hairstreak is the only full species butterfly endemic to Catalina. The Catalina Orangetip is an endemic sub-species found only on Catalina Island. I love hairstreaks and orange-tips so I'm definitely looking forward to chasing these two down for a photo.
The Bewick's Wren, the California Quail and the Hutton's Vireo are all Catalina endemic sub-species.
The Island Loggerhead Shrike, the Orange-crowned Warbler, the Allen's Hummingbird, the House Finch, Horned Lark, and the Spotted Towhee are all Channel Island endemic sub-species. I've seen the Orange-crowned warbler and the Allen's Hummingbird as well as the Santa Cruz Island Scrub Jay on Santa Cruz Island, years ago. It will be neat to see them again on Catalina.

1 comment:

Doug Aguillard said...

Hey U,

The Avalon Scrub Hairstreak can be found in the Botanical Gardens or in the Coastal Sage=Scrub about the gardens. They are much paler than the Grey Hairstreak, which is a recent invador to the island.