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- Atoll Starling
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- Atoll Starling
- Atoll Starling
- Atoll Starling
- Atoll Starling

Atoll Starling Aplonis feadensis Scientific name definitions

Adrian J. F. Craig and C. J. Feare
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated July 15, 2013

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

20 cm; 72 g. Medium-sized starling with forehead feathers slightly bristly. Head and body are black, glossed with turquoise-green, wing and tail brownish-black with some gloss; iris yellow or dark yellow (one description suggests dark iris with pale yellow eyering); bill and legs black. Sexes alike. Juvenile lacks gloss on upperparts, has pale feather edges on underparts giving scaly effect, iris blue, becoming green. Races differ minimally: heureka has thinner bill and longer tail than nominate.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Close to A. insularis; formerly considered conspecific, but structurally and vocally distinct. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Aplonis feadensis feadensis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Nissan I and Nuguria Is (E of New Ireland), Mortlocks and Carterets (E of Bougainville), and Ontong Java Atoll (N Solomon Is).
SUBSPECIES

Aplonis feadensis heureka Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Ninigo Group, Hermit Is and, probably this race, Wuvulu (1), Emirau (2) and Tench I, off NW and N Bismarck Archipelago.

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Forest, forest edge and coconut (Cocos nucifera) groves; often found around gardens near forest, and readily enters gardens to exploit fruit trees.

Movement

Presumed resident, although individual seen flying between islands in Ninigo Group.

Diet and Foraging

Diet berries and insects. Forages in canopy; also at lower levels at forest edge, where sometimes descends to ground to feed. Gleans insects from leaves. In pairs or small flocks.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Commonest call a loud ascending "weee-eeee"; softer calls resemble those of white-eyes (Zosterops). Song a rapid jumble of notes.

Breeding

Breeds Jun–Jul (young in nest). Nest in hole 5–10 m above ground in old tree or coconut stump. Clutch 2 eggs, pale blue, with reddish brown spots concentrated at thicker end; both adults seen to feed young. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife NT Near Threatened
Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near-threatened. Restricted range species: present in New Britain and New Ireland EBA and in Ontong Java Atoll Secondary Area. Fairly common, but small population with total area of distribution probably no more than c. 64 km2, spread over many small islets. Day counts on Tench of c. 30 individuals in 1998 and 15 in 1999; day counts of c. 30 on Nissan in 1998. Main potential threats are natural events such as cyclone damage and colonization of islands by A. cantoroides, compounded by continued habitat modification. With the exception of Nissan (37 km2), all islands inhabited by present species are tiny (less than 10 km2 in surface area), and the small and fragmented forested habitats remaining on them are subject to high human population pressure; large areas already cleared for agriculture and coconut plantations. The species' apparent dependence on holes for nesting may be a limiting factor. In addition, as most of the islands which it inhabits are low (reaching only a few metres above sea-level), it is potentially at risk from climate change.
Distribution of the Atoll Starling - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Atoll Starling

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Craig, A. J. F. and C. J. Feare (2020). Atoll Starling (Aplonis feadensis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.atosta1.01
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