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Aplonis
''Aplonis'' is a genus of starlings. These are essentially island species of Indonesia and Oceania, although some species' ranges extend to the Malay Peninsula, southern Vietnam and northeastern Queensland. The typical adult ''Aplonis'' starling is fairly uniformly plumaged in black, brown or dark green, sometimes with a metallic gloss. The eye ring is often distinctively coloured. Immatures of several species have dark streaked pale underparts. Several species have restricted ranges, and, like other island endemics, have become endangered or extinct as a result of habitat loss or introduced mammals such as rats. Taxonomy The genus ''Aplonis'' was introduced in 1836 by the English ornithologist John Gould. He listed two species in the new genus but did not specify which was the type species. In 1840 George Gray designated the ''Aplonis fusca'' Gould 1836 as the type. This is the extinct Tasman starling. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''haploos '' meaning "simple" or "plain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tasman Starling
The Tasman starling (''Aplonis fusca'') was described in 1836 by John Gould as a species which occurred on both Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island. In 1928 Australian ornithologist Gregory Macalister Mathews, Gregory Mathews recognized that the plumage of the race from Lord Howe Island was much browner and more greyish than the plumage of the Norfolk Island race and split the species into two forms, the Norfolk starling (''Aplonis fusca fusca''), and the Lord Howe starling (''Aplonis fusca hulliana''). Both subspecies are now extinct, thus so the species. __TOC__ Norfolk starling The Norfolk starling (''Aplonis fusca fusca''), was a small bird in the starling family. It is the extinction, 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |