The Alejandro Selkirk firecrown (Sephanoides fernandensis leyboldi) is an extinct subspecies of the Juan Fernández firecrown that lived on Alejandro Selkirk Island in the Juan Fernández Archipelago belonging to Chile.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip [.xls zipped 1 MB] retrieved 31 January 2025
Taxonomy
Most worldwide taxonomic systems accept this species as putative. However, a few authors question this subspecies and whether a firecrown ever existed on Alejandro Selkirk Island.Johow, Federico. (2007). El picaflor de la Isla de Masafuera: ¿subspecie extinta, nunca existió o mistery bird? / The Hummingbird of the Masafuera Island: extinct subspecies, never existed or Mystery Bird? Boletín Chileno de Ornitología 13: 28-41. [in Spanish with English summary]
Extinction The Alejandro Selkirk firecrown may have gone extinct due to deforestation, erosion and predation by introduced cats, rats, goats, and rabbits.Hume, Julian P. (2017): Extinct Birds. Bloomsbury Publishing, 560 pages. It might have also competed with the introduction of plants such as Luma apiculata, as well as the green-backed firecrown. It was last seen in 1908, but the sighting was unconfirmed.
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