The Lord Howe thrush (''Turdus poliocephalus vinitinctus''), also known as the vinous-tinted thrush or vinous-tinted blackbird, is an extinct subspecies of the

island thrush The island thrush (''Turdus poliocephalus'') is a common forest bird in the thrush family. Almost 50 subspecies have been described, ranging from South East Asia and Melanesia, to Samoa, exhibiting great differences in plumage. Several subspeci ...

(''Turdus poliocephalus''). It was endemic to

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland P ...

, an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n island in the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...

, where it was also called the doctor bird or ouzel by the islanders. It had a length of 22.9 cm. The head was olive brown. The upperparts were chestnut brown. Wings and tail were dark brown. Throat and chin were dull brown with an olive tinge. The underparts were chestnut-coloured with a lavender tinge. It was quite common in 1906 but its population began to diminish in 1913 due to disturbance by man, cats, dogs, goats and feral pigs. When the

SS Makambo SS ''Makambo'' was a steamship first owned by Burns Philp & Co. Ltd. She was built in Port Glasgow in Scotland and named after an island in the Solomon Islands. She carried both passengers and cargo and was principally used on routes between ...

was shipwrecked on Lord Howe in June 1918 rats escaped from the vessel and overran the island. With other endemic bird species this ground-nesting bird became extinct within six years. Museum specimens are on display in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

(Netherlands),

Tring Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...

(United Kingdom),

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

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and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Notes

References

*Greenway, J. C. ''Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World'', 1967 *Day, D. ''The Doomsday Book of Animals'', 1981 *Luther, D. ''Die ausgestorbenen Vögel der Welt'', 1986

External links

The Lord Howe island thrush in the Naturalis Museum, Leiden

Lord Howe thrush The Lord Howe thrush (''Turdus poliocephalus vinitinctus''), also known as the vinous-tinted thrush or vinous-tinted blackbird, is an extinct subspecies of the island thrush (''Turdus poliocephalus''). It was endemic to Lord Howe Island, an Austr ...

Extinct birds of Lord Howe Island Bird extinctions since 1500

{{Turdidae-stub