Tag Archives: Loyalty Islands

Turdus pritzbueri Layard

Lifou Thrush (Turdus pritzbueri)

The Lifou Thrush was endemic to the island of Lifou, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, it is a member of the ‚Island Thrush species complex‘ and was formerly regarded to as one of about 70 (!!!) subspecies within a single species (Turdus poliocephalus Latham). 

The species was last recorded in 1878, when the last six specimens were collected. It appears to have been eradicated by introduced Black Rats (Rattus rattus (L.))

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This (sub)species is supposed to also inhabit or have inhabited the island of Tanna, Vanuatu, which for geographical reasons is indeed possible, but rather unlikely. Given the usual distribution patterns of this species complex, it would make this taxon the only of the 70 within its complex occurring on more that one island.

This assumption furthermore goes back to one or two museum specimens that were allegedly collected on Tanna, but these appear to be trade skins obtained by European collectors from local traders. [1]

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References:

[1] J. P. Hume; M. Walters: Extinct Birds. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2012

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Depiction from: ‘Henry Seebohm; R. Bowdler Sharpe: A Monograph of the Turdidae or family of thrushes. London: Henry Sotheran 1902’

(public domain)

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edited: 29.11.2018

Turdus mareensis Layard & Tristram

Mare Island Thrush (Turdus mareensis)  

This species is still considered as a subspecies of the Island Thrush (Turdus poliocephalus Latham), an assessment, that, in a biogeographical view, makes absolutely no sense – hence I treat it as a distinct species.  

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The Mare Island Thrush inhabited the island of Maré, one of the New Caledonian Loyalty Islands.  

The birds were about 23 cm long, and, apart from the white-spotted undertail-coverts, almost completely blackish brown in color. They inhabited all of the forest types of the island, including those in the islands interior as well as those near beaches, and they fed on insects and small reptiles as well as on fruits.  

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The Mare Island Thrush obviously died out after cats had been released on the island, an exact extinction date is not known, according to which source dates from 1875 to 1912 can be found.  

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References:  

[1] Dieter Luther: Die ausgestorbenen Vögel der Welt. Westarp Wissenschaften 1986 
[2] Peter Clement; Ren Hathaway: Thrushes. Christopher Helm Publishers Ltd 2000 
[3] David W. Steadman: Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds. University of Chicago Press 2006 
[4] H. Douglass Pratt: Revisiting species and subspecies of island birds for a better assessment of biodiversity. Ornithological Monographs 67: 79-89. 2010  

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Depiction from: ‘Henry Seebohm; R. Bowdler Sharpe: A Monograph of the Turdidae or family of thrushes. London: Henry Sotheran 1902’

(public domain)  

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edited: 29.11.2018