Requiem (in memoriam twelve extinct species) by senorton

The sounds in this composition will never again be heard in the wild. All of the species audible in this piece—ten birds and two frogs—are now extinct. You are able to hear these sounds because the creatures that made them went extinct during the era of recorded sound; this is a unique moment in the history of human-driven extinction.

This sound installation was presented at the IMRC Center at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine, United States on May 3, 2018; this recorded excerpt of the same installation in the same space was made the following week on May 9.

The value of the existence of these recordings cannot be overstated. The recordings heard in this piece were generously provided by the following research institutions:

The Macaulay Library of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, http://www.birds.cornell.edu/.

The Amphibian Foundation, Atlanta GA, http://www.amphibianfoundation.org/.

Data on these species was drawn extensively from the International Union of the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2017-3. HTTP://www.iucnredlist.org. Accessed on 29 April 2018.

Many thanks to N. B. Aldrich and my colleagues in the University of Maine Intermedia MFA program.

Following is a catalog of the species heard in this piece:

Rabb’s Fringe-limbed Tree Frog (Ecnomiohyla rabborum)
range: Central Panama
extinct: September, 2016
recording: Mark Mandica, Atlanta, GA, December, 2014

Kaua’i ’O’o (Moho braccatus)
range: Island of Kaua’i, Hawaii, USA
extinct: Declared extinct by the IUCN in 2000; last reported in 1987.
recording: C. Fred Zeillemaker, Kaua’i, Hawaii, June 1975

Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis principalis)
range: South-eastern United States, Cuba
extinct: The IUCN lists the Ivory-billed Woodpecker as “possibly extinct”; last confirmed report was in 1944.
recording: Arthur A. Allen, Peter P. Kellogg, Louisiana, May, 1935

Po’o-uli (Melamprosops phaeosoma)
range: Maui, Hawaii
extinct: The IUCN lists the Po’o-uli as “possibly extinct”.
recording: H. Douglas Pratt, Maui, Hawii, July 1975

Kamao (Myadestes Myadestinus)
range: Kaua’i, Hawaii
extinct: Declared extinct by the IUCN in 2004; ast reliable report was in 1985.
recordings: Robert J Shallenberger and H. Douglas Pratt, Kaua’i, Hawaii, July 1975

Golden Toad (Incilius periglenes)
range: Reserva Biológica Monteverde, Costa Rica
extinct: Declared extinct by the IUCN 2004; last reliable report was in 1989.
recording: Arnoud B. van den Berg, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, May, 1981

Guam Flycatcher (Myiagra freycineti)
range: Guam
extinct: Declared extinct by the IUCN in 1994.
recording: H. Douglas Pratt, Guam, August, 1978

O’ahu ’Alauahio (Paroreomyza maculata)
range: O’ahu, Hawaii
extinct: Listed as “critically endangered, possibly extinct” by the IUCN in 1994; last reliable observation was 1985.
recording: Timothy A. Burr, O’ahu, Hawii, date unknown

Atitlán Grebe (Podilymbus gigas)
range: Lake Atitlán, Guatemala
extinct: Listed as extinct by the IUCN in 1994; the species disappeared between 1983 and 1986.
recording: Anne LaBastille, Lake Atitlán shoreline, Sololá, Guatemala, May, 1963

’O’u (Psittirostra psittacea)
range: Formerly widespread across the islands of Hawaii
extinct: Listed as “critically endangered, possibly extinct” by the IUCN in 1994; last reliable observation was of two individuals in 1989.
recording: Robert J Shallenberger and H. Douglas Pratt, Kaua’i, Hawaii, July 1975

Cozumel Thrasher (Toxostoma guttatum)
range: Cozumel Island, Quintana Roo, Mexico
extinct: Listed as critically endangered by the IUCN in 2000; last reliable observation was possibly as recently as 2006.
recording: Andres M. Sada, Cozumel Island, Mexico, October, 1991

Bachman’s Warbler (Vermivora bachmanii)
range: South-eastern United States, Cuba
extinct: Listed as “critically endangered, possibly extinct” by the IUCN in 1994; has not been reported since 1988.
recording: G. Stuart Keith, South Carolina, May, 1959