Acrocephalus musae (Forster)
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Huahine Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus musae garretti (Cibois, Thiboult & Pasquet)) |
| syn. Acrocephalus caffer garretti (Cibois, Thiboult & Pasquet) |
| distribution: Society Islands: Huahine |
| local name: 'Otatare (Tahitian) |
| size: ca. 19 cm (length) extinction date: after 1887 |
| Up to the present the
Reed-Warblers of the Society Archipelago were considered as subspecies of
the Tahiti Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus caffer (Sparrman)). According to DNA analyses it is now known that the four known forms evolved from three seperate colonisations. The Reed-Warblers of the both islands Huahine and Ra'iatea can be referred to a common ancestor and so can be conflated as two subspecies of a single species. In the year 1987 the Huahine Reed-Warbler was described as a distinct form on the basis of two specimens, which were collected between 1870 and 1887. Only about a handful of preperated specimens exist today in several european museums. |
| Raiatea Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus musae musae (Forster)) |
| syn. Acrocephalus caffer musae (Forster), Oriolus musae (Forster) |
| distribution: Society Islands: Ra'iatea |
| local name: 'Otatare (Tahitian) |
| size: ca. 19 cm (length) extinction date: after 1870 |
| From the 3-th November to
the 7-th December in the year 1777 Cook's ships anchored at the coast of
Ra'iatea. During that time George Forster collected several birds, among
them the mysterious Bay Thrush as well as this Reed-Warbler. Today the depiction of this bird, also made by George Forster, is all what remained of this specimen. The only other preserved specimen of this form was collected around 1870, it is now kept in the Übersee-Museum in Bremen / Germany. |
| References: - Erwin Stresemann: Birds collected during Capt. James Cook's last expedition (1776-1780). Auk 67(1): 66-88. 1950 - Alice Cibois; Jean-Claude Thibault; Eric Pasquet: Systematics of the extinct reed warblers Acrocephalus of the Society Islands of eastern Polynesia. Ibis 150: 365–376. 2008 |