Mauke starling [SEP] parent taxon
Mauke starling
The Mauke starling or mysterious starling ("Aplonis mavornata") was a species of starling found on the island of Mauke, Cook Islands. It is now extinct. The binomen is the result of Buller's misreading of the name "inornata" on the specimen label. As he seems to have genuinely believed this spelling to be correct, the binomial, although it has no meaning, is valid.
Description.
Its overall length is . Bill from gape , from anterior margin of nostril, 1.24
The geographically closest relative is the Rarotonga starling, which is larger and has a greyish body plumage with light grey feather margins. In overall appearance, "A. mavornata" is closest to the Polynesian starling's subspecies "tenebrosus" of Niuatoputapu and Tafahi, Tonga; alternatively, it looks much like a much (nearly one-third) smaller, yellow-eyed version of the Samoan starling.
Extinction.
There is a lot of mystery surrounding the Mauke Starling. The only known specimen (BMNH Old Vellum Catalog