Turdus poliocephalus poliocephalus Latham, 1801
Norfolk Island thrush, Grey-headed thrush, Grey-headed blackbird, Guava bird
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
A complete synonymy taken from (Checklist Committee (OSNZ), 2010:313):
Turdus poliocephalus Latham, 1802: Index Ornith. Suppl.: xliv – Norfolk Island.; Turdus fuliginosus Latham, 1802: Index Ornith. Suppl.: xlii – Norfolk Island.; Merula nestor Gould, 1836: Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1835 (3): 186 – “Novâ Cambriâ Australi”, error for Norfolk Island (fide Mathews 1928, Birds Norfolk & Lord Howe Islands: 48).; Geocichla poliocephala (Latham); Bonaparte 1850, Consp. Gen. Avium 1: 268.; Merula poliocephala (Latham); Gould 1859, Birds of Australia, Suppl. 3: pl. 30.; Turdus badius G.R. Gray, 1869: Hand-list Birds: 255, no 3707 – Norfolk Island.; Turdus fuliginosus fuliginosus Latham; Mathews 1912, Novit. Zool. 18(3): 450.; Planesticus fuliginosus fuliginosus (Latham); Mathews 1913, List Birds Australia: 324.; Turdus poliocephalus Latham; Wakelin 1968, Notornis 15: 175.; Turdus poliocephalus poliocephalus Latham; Schodde & Mason 1999, Directory Australian Birds. Passerines: 649.
Conservation Status
Extinct
Last record: 1975 (Schodde et al., 1983; Kittelberger et al., 2024)
IUCN RedList status: Extinct
Distribution
Norfolk Island, Australia
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
Above: illustration (bottom bird) from Mathews (1928).
Above: Grey-headed Blackbird. Turdus poliocephalus. From the series: Extinct Birds of New Zealand., 2005, Masterton, by Paul Martinson. Purchased 2006. © Te Papa. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (2006-0010-1/6)
References
Original scientific description:
Latham, J. (1801). Supplementum Indicis Ornithologici, sive Systematis Ornithologiae. London: G. Leigh, J. & S. Sotheby 74 pp.
Other references:
Anonymous. (1964). List of rare birds, including those thought to be so but of which detailed information is still lacking. IUCN Bulletin 10(Special Supplement): 4 pp.
Bell, B. D. (1990). The status and management of the White-breasted White-eye and other birds on Norfolk Island. Report to the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra.
BirdLife International. (2012). Turdus poliocephalus. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 30 August 2013.
Checklist Committee (OSNZ). (2010). Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica (4th ed.). Ornithological Society of New Zealand & Te Papa Press, Wellington. [p. 313]
Garnett, Stephen (ed.). (1992). Threatened and Extinct Birds of Australia. RAOU Report Number 82. 212 pp.
Garnett, S. T. and Crowley, G. M. (2000). The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000. Canberra, ACT: Environment Australia & Birds Australia.
Gould, John. (1836). Untitled. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1836: 185-187.
Gould, John. (1855). The Birds of Australia Suppl. 2, pl. 30 (text).
Gray, G. R. (1869). Hand-list of Genera and Species of Birds, Distinguishing those Contained in the British Museum. London : British Museum Vol. 1 xx 404 pp.
Hermes, N., Evans, O. and Evans, B. (1986). Norfolk Island Birds: a review 1985. Notornis 33: 141-149.
Higgins, P. J., Peter, J. M. and Cowling, S. J. (eds.). (2006). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 7: Boatbill to Starlings. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Hindwood, K. A. (1940). The birds of Lord Howe Island. Emu 40: 1-86.
Holdaway, Richard N. and Anderson, Atholl. (2001). Avifauna from the Emily Bay settlement site, Norfolk Island: A preliminary account, pp. 85-100. In: Anderson, Atholl and White, Peter (eds.). Records of the Australian Museum, Supplement 27. Sydney: Australian Museum.
Holdaway, Richard N., Worthy, Trevor H. and Tennyson, Alan J. D. (2001). A working list of breeding bird species of the New Zealand region at first human contact. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 28: 119-187.
Hoser, Raymond T. (1991). Endangered Animals of Australia. Mosman, NSW: Pierson & Co. 240 pp. [pp. 129]
Kittelberger, Kyle D., Tanner, Colby J., Buxton, Amy N., Prewett, Amira and Şekercioğlu, Çağan Hakkı. (2024). Correlates of avian extinction timing around the world since 1500 CE. Avian Research 15: 100213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100213 [Supplementary data (List of 216 taxa)]
Knox, Alan G. and Walters, Michael P. (1994). Extinct and endangered birds in the collections of The Natural History Museum. British Ornithologists' Club Occasional Publications 1: 1-292. [pp. 206-211]
Mathews, Gregory Macalister. (1928). The Birds of Norfolk & Lord Howe Islands and the Australasian South Polar Quadrant: with additions to "birds of Australia". London: H.F. & G. Witherby. xii + 139 pp, pls 1-45. [p. 48, pl. 26]
McKean, J. L., Evans, O. and Lewis, J. H. (1976). Notes on the birds of Norfolk Island. Notornis 23: 299-301.
Meredith, C.W. 1991. Vertebrate fossil faunas from islands in Australasia and the southwest Pacific. Pp. 1345–1381. In: Rich, P.V.; Monaghan, J.M.; Baird, R.F. & Rich, T.H. (Eds). Vertebrate palaeontology of Australasia. Melbourne: Pioneer Design Studio and Monash University Publications Committee. 1437 pp.
Robinson, D. (1988). Ecology and management of the Scarlet Robin, White-breasted White-eye and Long-billed White-eye on Norfolk Island. Report to the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra.
Schodde, R.; Fullagar, P.; Hermes, N. (1983). A review of Norfolk Island birds: past and present. Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra.
Schodde, R. and Mason, I. J. 1999. The Directory of Australian Birds: Passerines. CSIRO, Collingwood, Victoria.
Scott, Peter (ed.). (1965). Preliminary List of Rare Mammals and Birds, pp. 155-237. In: The Launching of a New Ark. First Report of the President and Trustees of the World Wildlife Fund. An International Foundation for saving the world's wildlife and wild places 1961-1964. London: Collins.
Smithers, C. N. and Disney, H. J. de S. (1969). The distribution of terrestrial and freshwater birds on Norfolk Island. Aust. J. Zool. 15: 127-140.
Stone, W. & Mathews, G.M. 1913. Additional species described by Gould from Norfolk, Lord Howe, and Philip Islands. Austral Avian Records 1: 182-183.
Woinarski, John C. Z., Legge, Sarah M. and Garnett, Stephen T. (2024). Extinct Australian birds: numbers, characteristics, lessons and prospects. Emu 124(1): 8-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2023.2240345
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