The Kosrae starling, also known as Kosrae Island starling, and formerly as Kusaie Mountain starling, (''Aplonis corvina'') is an extinct bird from the family of

starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine (perching) birds known for the often dark, glossy iridescent sheen of their plumage; their complex vocalizations including mimicking; and their distinctive, often elaborate swarming behavior, know ...

s (Sturnidae). It was endemic to the montane forests on the island of

Kosrae Kosrae ( ), formerly known as Kusaie or Strong's Island, is an island in the Caroline Islands archipelago, and States of Micronesia, state within the Federated States of Micronesia. It includes the main island of Kosrae, traditionally known as Ual ...

which belong to the

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the cen ...

in the south-western Pacific.

Description

It reached a length between 20 and 25.4 centimetres. It was crow-like, glossy black and had a long curved bill as well as a long tail.

Extinction

The Kosrae starling is only known by five specimens which were obtained between December 1827 and January 1828 by the Kittlitz Expedition. Kittlitz described the bird in 1833. Three skins can be seen in the Museum of

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and two further in the Museum Naturalis in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

. In 1880 an expedition led by

Otto Finsch Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch (8 August 1839, Warmbrunn – 31 January 1917, Braunschweig) was a German ethnographer, natural history, naturalist and colonial explorer. He is known for a two-volume monograph on the parrots of the world which earne ...

was unable to find this bird. Another survey by the

Whitney South Seas Expedition The Whitney South Sea Expedition (1920 - 1941) to collect bird specimens for the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), under the initial leadership of Rollo Beck, was instigated by Leonard Cutler Sanford, Dr Leonard C. Sanford and financed by ...

of the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

in 1931 proved that this species was extinct. Its extinction was most likely caused by

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...

s which escaped from

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

vessels during the 19th century and became widespread on Kosrae.

References

Bibliography

*Greenway, James (1967): ''Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World'' *Day, David (1981): ''The Doomsday Book of Animals'' *Fuller, Errol (2000): ''Extinct Birds'' *Flannery, Tim & Schouten, Peter (2001): ''A Gap in Nature''

Citations

External links

BirdLife Species FactsheetBiodiversity Heritage Library: Check-list of birds of the world.
(1962)
Biodiversity Heritage Library: University of Kansas publications, Museum of Natural History.
(1951)
Catalogue of Life: Annual ChecklistLondon Natural History Museum: A picture of five specimens
Kosrae starling Birds of the Federated States of Micronesia Endemic fauna of the Federated States of Micronesia Extinct birds of Oceania Articles containing video clips Kosrae starling Taxa named by Heinrich von Kittlitz

† A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species or languages). It is one of the mo ...

{{Sturnidae-stub