Aplonis is a genus of starlings.
Distribution / Status
They are found on islands in Indonesia, Oceania, and Australasia, although some species’ ranges extend to the Malay Peninsula, southern Vietnam and northeastern Queensland.
Several island species are at risk of extinction due to habitat loss or predation by introduced mammals, such as rats.
Description
The plumage is uniformly black, brown or dark green, sometimes with a metallic gloss, with distinctive eye rings. Juveniles of several species have a dark streaked pale under plumage.
The following is the list of Aplonis species in taxonomic order:
- Metallic Starling, Aplonis metallica
- Yellow-eyed Starling, Aplonis mystacea: Found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It inhabits subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. The continued existence of this species is threatened by habitat destruction.
- Singing Starling, Aplonis cantoroides
- Tanimbar Starling, Aplonis crassa
- Atoll Starling, Aplonis feadensis: Found in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands
- Rennell Starling, Aplonis insularis
- Long-tailed Starling, Aplonis magna
- White-eyed Starling, Aplonis brunneicapillus: Found in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.
- Brown-winged Starling, Aplonis grandis
- San Cristobal Starling, Aplonis dichroa: Endemic to Solomon Islands.
- Rusty-winged Starling, Aplonis zelandica
- Striated Starling, Aplonis striata
- Tasman Starling, Aplonis fusca (extinct c.1923)
- Norfolk Starling, Aplonis fusca fusca (extinct c.1923)
- Lord Howe Starling, Aplonis fusca hulliana (extinct c.1919)
- Vanuatu Starling, Santo Mountain Starling or Santo Starling, Aplonis santovestris
- Asian Glossy Starling, Aplonis panayensis
- Moluccan Starling, Aplonis mysolensis: Endemic to Indonesia
- Short-tailed Starling, Aplonis minor
- Micronesian Starling, Aplonis opaca
- Pohnpei Starling, Aplonis pelzelni (possibly extinct, c.2000)
- Polynesian Starling, Aplonis tabuensis
- Samoan Starling, Aplonis atrifusca
- Kosrae Island Starling, Aplonis corvina (extinct, mid-19th century)
- Mysterious Starling, Aplonis mavornata (extinct, mid-19th century)
- Rarotonga Starling, Aplonis cinerascens: It is endemic to the Cook Islands.
- Huahine Starling, Aplonis diluvialis (prehistoric)
- Bay Starling, Aplonis ulietensis (extinct, 1774 to 1850; formerly considered a thrush)
- Erromango Starling, Aplonis sp. undescr. (prehistoric)
