Black-throated Finch on Sealion Island in the Falklands
Sea Lion Island is the southernmost inhabited island of the Falkland Islands. Only formerly inhabited Beauchene Island is located further south. Sea Lion Island Settlement is the southernmost settlement of the Falkland Islands. The island has two airstrips. Historically, Sea Lion Island was a sheep farm and a base for slaughtering penguins to render for oil. When the British ship Viscount was wrecked in 1892, the wreckage was used to build the farmhouse. The island was managed as a sheep farm for almost all of the 20th century, but in 1997 all but a small flock of sheep was removed. In 1990, the Clifton family who owned the island, sold it to the Falkland Islands Development Corporation (FIDC). They had planted 60,000 stands of tussac grass. Since then, ecotourism has been the only economic activity. In 1986 FIDC constructed the Sea Lion Lodge, with accommodation for 20 guests. It was prefabricated and flown in kit form to the island by Royal Air Force helicopters and has proved to be a success. It is used by tourists and, since 1996, scientific researchers. There is a memorial to HMS Sheffield on Bull Hill in the south of the island. The white-bridled finch (Melanodera melanodera), also known as the canary-winged finch or black-throated finch, is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Melanodera together with the yellow-bridled finch (M. xanthogramma). Formerly placed in the family Emberizidae, it is now considered a tanager. It is found in grassland in southernmost South America. There are two subspecies: M. m. melanodera in the Falkland Islands and M. m. princetoniana in southern Argentina and Chile.
Size: 4612px × 3075px
Location: Sealion Island Falkland Islands
Photo credit: © Philip Jones / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: _d, atlantic, birds, black-throated, canary-winged, falkland, falklands, finch, horizontal, island, islands, land, male, malvinas, melanodera, sealion, south, white-bridled
