Lord Howe Star
| Lord Howe Star | ||||||||||||
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Lord Howe Star ( Aplonis fusca hulliana ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Aplonis fusca hulliana | ||||||||||||
| Mathews , 1928 |
The Lord Howe star ( Aplonis fusca hulliana ) is an extinct subspecies of the Norfolk star ( Aplonis fusca ). It was endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea . The islanders called these starlings "red-eyes" because of their eye color or "cúdgimarúk" because of their unmistakable reputation.
features
The Lord Howe Star reached a length of 18 cm. The head, neck, cloak, and throat were shiny metallic green. The back was slate gray with a dull greenish tinge. The rump and underside were gray. The tail was gray with brownish feather tips. The wings were a vivid brown. The iris was orange-red.
Way of life
The Lord Howe star was a forest dweller who lived in pairs. During the breeding season, the nests were made in caves of dead trees or in tree ferns. The clutch consisted of four to five blue eggs with reddish spots.
die out
The Lord Howe star disappeared in 1919 after rats overran Lord Howe Island after the Makambo beached at Ned's Beach and wiped out 40 percent of the endemic bird species within two years.
literature
- David Day: The Doomsday Book of Animals. Ebury Press, London 1981, ISBN 0670279870 .
- Errol Fuller: Extinct Birds. Oxford University Press 2000, ISBN 0-8160-1833-2 .
- James C. Greenway (1967): Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World. Dover Publications Inc., New York, ISBN 0-486-21869-4 .
- Dieter Luther: The extinct birds of the world. Westarp Sciences, 1995, ISBN 3-89432-213-6 .