The Auk 113(1):229-230, 1996 Rediscoveryof the Pohnpei Mountain Starling (Aplonis pelzelni) DONALD W BUDEN Divisionof Scienceand Mathematics, College of Micronesia,P.O. Box159, Kolonia,Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia96941 A specimen of the Pohnpei Mountain Starling dominant trees, and mosses and ferns cover much of (Aplonispelzelni) salvaged on 4 July 1995 is the first the forestfloor and form dense,epiphytic layerson confirmed record since J. T. Marshall collected two the trunks, limbs, and branches of other trees and on 7 March 1956.This speciesis endemicto Pohnpei, shrubs.Tree ferns (Cyatheaspp.), the sedgeThoracos- a moderatelysized (about355 km2) heavily forested tachyumpandanophyllum, and standsof Pandanuspatina and ruggedlymountainous (about 800 m high) trop- also are common in the vicinity. The bird was col- ical Pacificisland (MacLean et al. 1986).Pohnpei (for- lected at about 0800 ST as billowing clouds rolled merly Ponapeand a U.S. Trust Territory) is in the through the forest and acrossthe ridge. It was im- eastern Caroline Islands, Federated States of Micro- mediatelybrought to me at our camp on the shoulder nesia (6ø54'N, 158ø14'E). of the mountain. Measurements (in millimeters) of In the most recent literature, A. pelzelnihas been the prepared study skin (MCZ 333054) are.'exposed reported variously as possibly "near extinction" culmen, 18.5; bill depth at nostril, 6.1; bill width at (Engbringet al. 1990),"possibly extinct" (Pratt et al. nostril, 5.8; wing length (measuredflat againstrule), 1987), and "extinct" (IUCN 1990). None was encoun- 100.0;tail length, 60.0;and tarsus,26.4. The specimen tered by Pratt and his associatesin 1976 and 1977 was given to the College of Micronesia and, subse- (Pratt et al. 1987)or by personnelof the United States quently, donatedto the Museum of ComparativeZo- Fishand Wildlife Serviceduring forest-birdsurveys ology, Harvard University. I saw no others during in the summerof 1983 (Engbringet al. 1990). Like- my two years on Pohnpei. wise, none was encountered during two weeks of Accordingto Engbring et al. (1990), the specieswas surveysby three teamsof U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- "apparently never abundant," but suffered a partic- viceand Collegeof Micronesiapersonnel in May and ularly severedecline sometimeafter 1930. W. F. Coul- June 1994 (unpubl. data). However, Engbring et al. tas was able to collect60 specimensfor the American (1990) reported on three unconfirmedsightings by Museumof Natural Historyin December1930 (AMNH three different observersduring the 1970s,and many 331646-331705);dates on museumlabels range from huntersand other Pohnpeiansfrequenting the mon- 1 to 21 Decemberfor 59 specimens,and 1 specimen tane forest told me they have seen A. pelzelnifrom is labelled as 26 December (P. Sweet pers. comm.). time to time, but morefrequently in the pastthan in Coultas(in Engbring et al. 1990) consideredA. pelzelni recent years. a "resident of highland forest," and none of his re- The local(Pohnpeian) name for A. pelzelni,sie (pro- cordswas below 425 m. L. P. Richards(in Engbring nouncedseea), is onomatopoeicfor its plaintive, high- et al. 1990)recorded two at about 180 to 210 m during pitched,sibilant whistle, which differsfrom the typ- the late 1940s (one was collected in 1948), and he ically louder and more stridentcalls of its sympatric received unconfirmed reports from local residentsto congener,the Micronesian Starling (A. opaca).Com- the effect that the specieswas formerly more wide- pared with the more numerousand widespreadA. spread,occuring in the lowlands and possiblyalso on opaca,A. pelzelniis smaller, with a proportionately adjacentAnt and Pakin atolls. J. T. Marshall (field thinner and less-robustbill (Fig. 1; for comparative notes,archived Smithsonian Division of Birds,library measurements,see Baker 1951).Aplonis pelzelni is also annex) collecteda male (USNM 461509, study skin) paler (gray or brownishgray) and lessglossy, and it and its presumedmate (USNM 430057,skeleton, un- hasa brown iris (yellow in adult A. opaca,but brown sexed)with one chargeof shotat an elevationof about in young). 550 m on the northern slope of Nahna Laud on 7 The A. pelzelniobtained on 4 July 1995was a female March 1956. His field notes mention only 5 to 10 with unenlargedfollicles, and was shot by a local othersseen or heard while he was basedon Pohnpei guide assistingon a herpetologicalsurvey. The guide from August 1955 to July 1956 as a member of the had participatedin bird surveysthe previous year PacificScience Board's Rat EcologyProject. and knew that biologistswere especiallyinterested The reasonfor the declineof the PohnpeiMountain in finding A. pelzelni.He usedhis deer rifle to obtain Starlingis unknown. Pohnpeihas large tractsof un- the specimenfor positiveidentification. The bird was disturbedforest, but slash-and-burnagriculture has perchedabout 5 to 6 m high in an akenweltree (Gyn- becomeincreasingly more widespread,reaching to otrochesaxillaris) at about 750 m elevation in dwarf the lower limits of the dwarf forest at about 600 m forest(i.e. mossforest or crestvegetation) about 300 elevation, and possiblycontributing stressto an al- m east of the U.S. GeologicalSurvey marker on the readydepressed population of this species.Bird hunt- eastern side of Nahna Laud, Madolenihmw munici- ing also is commonpractice among Pohnpeians,the pality. Kotop (Clinostigmaponapensis) palms are the chief game speciesbeing Micronesian Pigeons (Du- 229 230 ShortCommunications andCommentaries [Auk,Vol. 113 Fig. 1. (Above)Side view of Aplonispelzelni collected in July1995. (Below) Dorsal view with headturned to one sideof A. opaca(uncataloged specimen, College of Micronesia). culaoceanica), Purple-capped Fruit-Doves (Ptilinopus porphyraceus),and MicronesianStarlings. The Pohn- pei Mountain Starling is not especiallysought by BAKER, R. H. 1951. The avifauna of Micronesia, its hunters,but Engbringet aL (1990)reported that in origin, evolution, and distribution.Univ. Kansas 1976what may havebeen an exampleof an A. pelzelni Publ., Mus. Nat. Hist. 3:1-359. beingeaten by L. P. Richards'guides before the spec- EblGBPJNG,J., F. L. RAMSEY,AND V. J. WILDMAN. 1990. imencould be saved.Engbring et al. (1990)also spec- Micronesianforest bird surveys,the federated ulatedthat predationby rats(Rattus spp.) could be a states:Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk, and Yap. U.S. factorcontributing to the declineof this species.In Fish and Wildlife Service,Department of the In- any event,high-elevation forest appears to be the last terior, Washington,D.C. bastionfor the PohnpeiMountain Starling,and ef- IUCN. 1990. 1990 IUCN red list of threatened ani- forts should be made to conserve this habitat for its mals.World ConservationUnion (IUCN), Gland, protection,as well as for other endemicor nearly Switzerland,and Cambridge,United Kingdom. endemicplant and animal species. MACLEAN, C. D., T. G. COLE, C. D. WFIITESErL,M. V. Acknowledgments.--Iam grateful to: the South Pa- FALANRUW,AND A. H. AMBACHER.1986. Vege- cificRegional Environment Program (SPREP) for sup- tationsurvey of Pohnpei,Federated States of Mi- portingmy fieldworkon Pohnpei;Tom Panholzer for cronesia.Pacific Southwest Forest and RangeEx- the photographof starlingspecimens; Joe Marshall periment Station. U.S. Department of Agricul- for copiesof his field notes;Christopher Milensky ture Forest Service Resource Bull. PSW-18.' for supplementarydata on Marshall'sspecimens in PRATT, H. D., P. L. BRUNER,AND D. G. BERRETT. 1987. the NationalMuseum of Natural History;and Paul A field guide to the birdsof Hawaii and the trop- Sweet for information on the Coultas collection in ical Pacific. Princeton Univ. Press,Princeton, New theAmerican Museum of NaturalHistory. I alsothank Jersey. R. C. Banks,J. T. Marshall,C. Milensky,K. C. Parkes, Received31 August1995, accepted 18 September1995. and G. D. Schnellfor reviewingthe manuscript. .