Author: Father Ernesto Ferreira (collector)
Dimensions: H. 10 x W. 5 x L. 15 cm
Origin: Pyrrhula murina Goodman, São Miguel Island – Furnas Lake
Reference: MCM1218
On display: Carlos Machado Museum
Notes: “Priolo” (Pyrrhula murina) is an endemic bird from São Miguel, currently restricted to the eastern part of the Island, namely to the mountainous area located among Pico da Vara, Planalto dos Graminhais and Serra da Tronqueira in an area of natural vegetation, encompassed by the municipalities of Nordeste and Povoação. This species current population is estimated between 200 and 400 individuals. The English ornithologist Frederick du Cane Goodman was the first to consider the “priolo” from São Miguel as an endemic species, ascribing it the scientific name of Pyrrhula murina, in 1865.
This classification was objected by the founder of the Lisbon Museum of Natural History, the distinguished zoologist Vicente Barbosa du Bocage, who only accepted it as a new species in 1873. The “priolo” from São Miguel is similar to its European relative Pyrrhula pyrrhula L., known as D. Fafe in the mainland, as bouvreil in France and as bullfinch in England. Unlike these, the “priolo” does not present different colors between male and female. In the rest of Europe, the male shows a reddish plumage in the chest and belly.
In the beginning of the 20th century, the “priolo” was a rather abundant bird in Furnas and Povoação. It was intensely persecuted, due to the damages it provoked during the flowering season of fruit trees, since it feeds on floral buds. Nowadays, the “priolo” is a protected species by the European Wild Birds Directive and regarded as “globally endangered” by the Bird Life International [JPC].