Lord Howe Starling
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| Lord Howe Starling | ||||||||||||||||
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Extinct (1919)
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| Aplonis fuscus hullianus (Mathews, 1928) |
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The Lord Howe Starling (Aplonis fuscus hullianus) is an extinct race of the Norfolk Starling (Aplonis fusca). It was endemic to Lord Howe Island.
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[edit] Description
It had reached a size of 18 cm. 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 feathers tips. The wings were rich brown. The iris was orange red.
[edit] Ecology
They were named red-eyes or cúdgimarúk by the islanders. It was a forest dweller and lived and foraged in pairs. During the nesting period a clutch of four to five bluish red-blotched eggs were laid in a nest which was build in the holes of dead trees. Or it was nested on tree ferns which were in the near of the ground.
[edit] Extinction
The fate of the Lord Howe Starling was sealed in June 1918 when the SS Makambo grounded at Ned's Beach, Lord Howe Island. Lord Howe was overrun by rats which were able to escape from that vessel and within two years 40% of the endemic bird species from Lord Howe Island like the Lord Howe Fantail, the Lord Howe Grey-warbler, or the Lord Howe White-eye became extinct. The Lord Howe Starling was presumedly vanished by 1919.
[edit] References
- Day, David - The Doomsday Book of Animals
- Fuller, Errol - Extinct Birds
- Greenway, James C. - Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World
- Luther, Dieter - Die ausgestorbenen Vögel der Welt: Die neue Brehm-Bücherei 424
[edit] External links
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