The mountain starling (''Aplonis santovestris''), also known as Vanuatu starling, Santo mountain starling or Santo starling, is a bird species in the family Sturnidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the island of

Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region o ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

. It is restricted to cloud forest on that island.Bregulla, Heinrich L. (1992) ''Birds of Vanuatu'', Anthony Nelson, Oswestry, England. The species was seldom seen in the 20th century and was at one point feared

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

, although a 1991 expedition managed to find a population high in the mountains.

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Vanuatu stamp with Santo mountain starling

mountain starling The mountain starling (''Aplonis santovestris''), also known as Vanuatu starling, Santo mountain starling or Santo starling, is a bird species in the family Sturnidae. It is endemic to the island of Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu. It is restricted to ...

Birds of Vanuatu Endemic fauna of Vanuatu Espiritu Santo

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Sturnidae-stub