The Polynesian sandpipers form the genus ''Prosobonia''. They are small wading

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s confined to remote

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

islands of French Polynesia. Only one species is now extant, and it is rare and little known. This bird is sometimes separated in the genus ''Aechmorhynchus'', restricting the genus to the extinct southern forms.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Prosobonia'' was introduced in 1850 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte with the

Tahiti sandpiper The Tahiti sandpiper or Tahitian Sandpiper (''Prosobonia leucoptera'') is an extinct member of the large wader family Scolopacidae that was endemic to Tahiti in French Polynesia until its extinction sometime before 1819. It was discovered in 1 ...

, as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

. Bonaparte did not explain the etymology of the genus name but it is probably from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''prosōpon'' meaning "mask" or "face". The

International Ornithologists' Union The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

lists four species in the genus. Of these three have become extinct in historical times. *

Tuamotu sandpiper The Tuamotu sandpiper (''Prosobonia parvirostris'') is an endangered member of the large wader family Scolopacidae, that is endemic to the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. It is sometimes placed in the monotypic genus ''Aechmorhynchus''. A na ...

, ''P. parvirostris'' * † Kiritimati sandpiper, ''P. cancellata'' * †

, ''P. leucoptera'' * †

Moorea sandpiper The Moorea Sandpiper (''Prosobonia ellisi'') is an extinct member of the large wader family Scolopacidae that was endemic to Mo'orea in French Polynesia, where the locals called it ''te-te'' in the Tahitian language. Two specimens were collec ...

, ''P. ellisi'' An additional species was described in 2020 from subfossil remains. * † Henderson sandpiper ''P. sauli'' Indeterminate species are also known from the

Marquesas The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' (North Marquesan) and ' (South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in t ...

and the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

Description

The

, ''P. parvirostris'', is a unique short-billed all-brown wader previously found over a large area of the Pacific, but now confined to a few islands in the

Tuamotu archipelago The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (french: Îles Tuamotu, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extendin ...

and still declining. Its decline appears to be due to human habitation encroachment and introduced mammals. It feeds on insects, but takes some vegetable material from its coastal haunts. It nests on the ground, and has a soft piping call. The extinct

, ''P. leucoptera'' of

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

was similar in size and shape to ''P. cancellata''. It had brown upperparts, reddish underparts, a white wingbar, and some white on the face and throat. It became extinct in the 19th century, and little is known of it. There was a similar bird on

Moorea Moorea ( or ; Tahitian: ), also spelled Moorea, is a volcanic island in French Polynesia. It is one of the Windward Islands, a group that is part of the Society Islands, northwest of Tahiti. The name comes from the Tahitian word , meaning ...

which differed in some minor details from ''P. leucoptera'', notably the larger extent of white in the wing, and has been described as

(''P. ellisi''). However, although two species are generally listed, the question whether they actually did constitute separate species is probably unresolvable as only a single specimen of it exists today, apart from some contemporary paintings. From

Mangaia Mangaia (traditionally known as A'ua'u Enua, which means ''terraced'') is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and the second largest, after Rarotonga. It is a roughly circular island, with an area of , from Rarotonga. Originally heavily popul ...

in the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

Ua Huka Ua Huka is one of the Marquesas Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. It is situated in the northern group of the archipelago, approximately to the east of Nuku Hiva, at . Name Ua Huka is sometime ...

in the

, and the remote South Pacific Henderson Island subfossil remains of ''Prosobonia'' have been recovered but not yet named. The first of these was almost certainly more closely related to the Tahiti and Moorea populations than to the Tuamotu sandpiper, but the exact nature of their relationship is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. It disappeared in the early-mid 1st millennium AD, probably not long after 300 AD. The Ua Huka and Henderson forms can be assumed to have been closer to the living species. The latter, a distinct species with long legs and short wings, became extinct only about 1000 years after the Mangaia form, some time after 1200. In 2020 a new extinct species, ''Prosobonia sauli'' was described from specimens found on Henderson Island, part of the Pitcairn Islands. A genetic analysis found that the genus was sister to the clade containing '' Arenaria'' and ''

Calidris ''Calidris'' is a genus of Arctic-breeding, strongly migratory wading birds in the family Scolopacidae. These birds form huge mixed flocks on coasts and estuaries in winter. They are the typical "sandpipers", small to medium-sized, long-winged ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1062313 Birds of Polynesia * Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte