Scottish crossbill

Scottish crossbill
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Subfamily: Carduelinae
Genus: Loxia
Species:
L. scotica
Binomial name
Loxia scotica
Hartert, 1904

The Scottish crossbill (Loxia scotica) is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is endemic to the Caledonian Forests of Scotland, and is the only terrestrial vertebrate species endemic to the United Kingdom.[2][3][4] The Scottish crossbill was confirmed as a unique species in August 2006, on the basis of having a distinctive bird song.[5][6][7]

The genus name Loxia is from Ancient Greek loxos, 'crosswise', and scotica is Latin for 'Scottish'.[8] The Scottish Gaelic name for a crossbill is Cam-ghob, which means 'crooked beak'.[9]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Loxia scotica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22720641A88690876. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22720641A88690876.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ In the past, this claim has been made on behalf of other species such as the red grouse (now considered to be a sub-species of willow ptarmigan) and Irish stoat (Mustela erminea hibernica), also now considered to be a sub-species of stoat. Loxia scotica's position as a true species is a matter of debate but the current consensus is that it does have this status (see for example Miles and Jackman (1991) pp. 21–30 and Benvie (2004) p. 55.) The position of the freshwater fish the vendace Coregonus vandesius is disputed, with many authorities considering it to be a synonym of Coregonus albula.
  3. ^ Adams, William Mark (2003) Future Nature. British Association of Nature Conservationists p. 30. Retrieved 14 July 2009. This source lists the UK's endemic species as being "14 lichens, 14 bryophytes, 1 fern, 21 higher plants, 16 invertebrates and 1 vertebrate (the Scottish crossbill)."
  4. ^ Perhaps because endemic vertebrates are all but absent from the UK neither SNH nor JNCC appear to provide a definitive "list" but it is clear that the Scottish crossbill is the only endemic bird, (Gooders (1994) p. 273. and "Scottish Crossbill: Loxia Scotica (pdf) JNCC. Retrieved 7 July 2009.) and that there are no endemic freshwater fish (Maitland, P. and Lyle A.A. (1996) "Threatened freshwater fishes of Great Britain" in Kirchofer, A. and Hefti, D. (1996) Conservation of Endangered Freshwater Fish in Europe. Basel. Birkhauser.) or mammals ("The British Mammals list" Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine ppne.co.uk. Retrieved 7 July 2009.) in Britain. There are too few amphibians and reptiles native to the UK for there to be any doubt that no endemic species exist. The position is implied, although not stated by SNH in their Information and Advisory Note Number 49 "Priority species in Scotland: animals" Archived 2016-11-09 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 7 July 2009. See also Myers, Norman (2003) "Conservation of Biodiversity: How are We Doing?" Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine (pdf) The Environmentalist 23 pp. 9–15. Retrieved 7 July 2009. This publication confirms there is only one "endemic non-fish vertebrate species" in the British Isles, although it fails to identify the species concerned.
  5. ^ "Status of 'UK's only endemic bird species' confirmed", RSPB Scotland
  6. ^ "'Accent' confirms unique species" BBC Scotland, 15 August 2006
  7. ^ Adams (2003) p. 30
  8. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London, United Kingdom: Christopher Helm. pp. 231, 351. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  9. ^ "Forestry and Land Scotland - Scottish Crossbill". forestryandland.gov.scot. Retrieved 2019-04-25.