Raiatea starling facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Raiatea starling |
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| Watercolour painting by Georg Forster, 1774 | |
| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Sturnidae (?) |
| Genus: | Aplonis (?) (Gmelin, 1789) |
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The Raiatea starling was a special bird that lived a long time ago on the island of Raiatea. This island is part of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. People also called this bird the bay thrush or the mysterious bird of Ulieta. Sadly, this bird is now extinct, meaning there are no more Raiatea starlings left in the world. Scientists are still not completely sure how it is related to other birds.
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Discovering the Raiatea Starling
We know about the Raiatea starling mostly from a painting and some old notes. The painting was made in 1774 by a person named Georg Forster. He was a naturalist, someone who studies nature. Georg traveled with his father, Johann Reinhold Forster, on James Cook's second trip to the Pacific Ocean. They visited Raiatea in 1774.
Georg Forster painted the bird on June 1, 1774. This painting is now kept at the British Natural History Museum. The actual bird specimen that Georg painted was later lost. Another naturalist, John Latham, also saw the bird and described it. He called it the "bay thrush." Later, in 1789, Johann Friedrich Gmelin gave it its scientific name, Aplonis ulietensis.
Why Did the Raiatea Starling Disappear?
The Raiatea starling was last seen in 1774. By 1850, when another explorer visited Raiatea, the bird was gone. This means it became extinct sometime between these years. Scientists believe the bird disappeared because of black rats or brown rats. These rats were accidentally brought to the island by humans. The rats likely ate the birds' eggs or young, causing their numbers to drop until they vanished completely.
Scientists have tried to figure out exactly what kind of bird the Raiatea starling was. Some thought it might be a thrush, a starling, or even a honeyeater. However, because the original bird specimen is lost, its exact family tree is still a bit of a mystery. We do know that other starlings, like the Huahine starling, once lived on these islands.
What Did the Raiatea Starling Look Like?
We can imagine what the Raiatea starling looked like from the descriptions.
- Size: It was about the size of a song thrush, which is about 8.5 inches (21.5 cm) long.
- Beak: Its beak was about 1.25 inches (3 cm) long and had a reddish, pearly color.
- Feathers: Most of its feathers were a reddish-brown color. Its wing feathers had dusky (dark) edges.
- Tail: Its tail was rounded and dusky. It had 12 tail feathers.
- Eyes: Its eyes had a dark yellow color.
- Legs: Its legs were dusky black.
How Did the Raiatea Starling Behave?
The only person who ever wrote about seeing the living bird was Georg Forster. He noted that the Raiatea starling had a soft, gentle voice, almost like a flute. It lived among the thick bushes and plants in the valleys of its island home.
