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| The Golden Swallow (Tachycineta euchrysea) is an aerial insectivore and obligate secondary cavity nester endemic to the Caribbean islands of Jamaica and Hispaniola. The declining Hispaniolan subspecies (T. e. sclateri) is estimated at 1,500–7,000 individuals and the population is categorized as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The nomi-nate race on Jamaica (T. e. euchrysea) has not been unequivocally observed since the early 1980s. We conducted surveys for the critically endangered Jamaican Golden Swallow in Cockpit Country and the Blue Mountains to complement extensive surveys carried out by Graves (2014). Between January and March 2015 (52 field days), we performed 635 standardized point counts and surveyed more than 480 km of trail in remote landscape. The presence and identification of all diurnal aerial insectivores were determined at each designated census site. No Golden Swallows were observed. Despite the infinitesimal probability that a relict population persists undetected, there is strong evidence that the Jamaican Golden Swallow is extinct. | |
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