a last sad note

•

A somber note from the Sunshine state. A lesson to be learned: species are not immutable; they come and go and sometimes we are the cause.

The last known dusky seaside sparrow died 24 years ago this week, in 1987. His coda—the concluding beat of his avian heart—came either late in the evening June 15 or early June 16. (Some accounts use June 17, but that was probably the day it was reported.)

The species or subspecies (Ammodramus maritimus nigrescens) was non-migratory with a small home range: the mashes dominated by broomgrass on Merritt Island and along the St. Johns, Banana and Indian rivers in Florida.

The final dusky, a male, was nicknamed "Orange" because of the band of that color it once wore. He lived out his final days in captivity, his last home was on Discovery Island at Disney World. Reclusive, he spent most of his time hidden in the tall grass at the bottom of his aviary. Alone, he rarely sang. To what purpose? There was no other dusky to serenade.

And. of course, if you are it, the very last, the swan song of your species about to vanish; finished, finito, would you really have anything to sing about?

For more info read, "A Shadow and a Song" by Mark Jerome Walters. An excellent account of the chain of events that led to population losses and the bungled attempts to save what was left of the dusky seaside sparrow.

•