Tasman starling
Tasman starling | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Sturnidae |
Genus: | Aplonis |
Species: | †A. fusca
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Binomial name | |
†Aplonis fusca Gould, 1836
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Synonyms | |
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The Tasman starling (Aplonis fusca) was described in 1836 by
Norfolk starling
Norfolk starling | |
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Norfolk Island Tasman starling (Aplonis fusca fusca), from the collection Drawings of birds chiefly from Australia, (1791-1792) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Sturnidae |
Genus: | Aplonis |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | †A. f. fusca
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Trinomial name | |
†Aplonis fusca fusca (Gould, 1836)
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The Norfolk starling (Aplonis fusca fusca), was a small bird in the starling family. It is the extinct nominate subspecies of the Tasman starling.
Distribution
The Norfolk starling was confined to Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand.
Description
The Norfolk starling was 20 cm long. The wing length was 9.8 cm to 10.3 cm, the length of the tail was 6.3 to 6.8 cm, the length of the culmen 1.3 cm and tarsus was 2.5 cm. It was generally greyish brown. The males were glossy metallic green from head to the throat. The back, the rump, the uppertail coverts, the wing coverts, and underparts were grey, but undertail coverts were whitish. The bill was black and the eyes orange red. The females were coloured similarly but the greenish gloss were slightly duller and a grey throat contrasted with pale brownish flanks. The under breast was washed ochraceous. The abdomen and the undertail coverts were yellowish white.
Extinction
The reasons for its extinction are unclear. Competition from introduced
Lord Howe starling
Lord Howe starling | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Sturnidae |
Genus: | Aplonis |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | †A. f. hulliana
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Trinomial name | |
†Aplonis fusca hulliana (
Mathews , 1928) | |
Synonyms | |
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The Lord Howe starling (Aplonis fusca hulliana) was a small bird in the starling family. It is an extinct subspecies of the Tasman starling. It was endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia.
Description
The Lord Howe starling was 18 cm long. The head, the neck, the mantle and the throat were glossy metallic green. The back was slaty grey with a dull greenish gloss. The rump and the underparts were grey. The tail was grey with brownish tips to the feathers. The wings were rich brown. The iris was orange red.
Ecology
The starlings were called "red-eyes" from their eye colour, or "cudgimeruk" from their distinctive calls, by the islanders. They were forest dwellers which lived and foraged in pairs. During the nesting period a clutch of four to five bluish red-blotched eggs were laid in a nest in a hollow in a dead tree or tree fern.
Extinction
The fate of the Lord Howe starling was sealed in June 1918 when the SS Makambo grounded at Ned's Beach, thus allowing black rats to leave the vessel and overrun the island. Within two years 40% of Lord Howe's endemic bird species were extinct, including the Lord Howe fantail, Lord Howe gerygone, and robust white-eye. The Lord Howe starling vanished by 1919.
References
- . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
Bibliography
- Errol Fuller (2000). "Extinct Birds", ISBN 0-8160-1833-2
- Day, David - The Doomsday Book of Animals
- Greenway, James C. - Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World
- Luther, Dieter - Die ausgestorbenen Vögel der Welt: Die neue Brehm-Bücherei 424
External links
- BirdLife Species Factsheet: Norfolk Starling
- Norfolk Island Starling. Aplonis fusca. by Paul Martinson. Artwork produced for the book Extinct Birds of New Zealand, by Alan Tennyson, Te Papa Press, Wellington, 2006
- Illustration on a stamp Birdtheme.org
- Birdlife factsheet - Aplonis fusca
- Museum Naturalis - Tasman (Lord Howe Island) Starling
- 3D view of specimens RMNH 110.032, RMNH 110.033 and RMNH 110.035 at Naturalis, Leiden (requires QuickTimebrowser plugin)
- Norfolk Island Starling. Aplonis fusca. by Paul Martinson. Artwork produced for the book Extinct Birds of New Zealand, by Alan Tennyson, Te Papa Press, Wellington, 2006