Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Passeriformes > Sturnidae > Aplonis > Aplonis opaca

Aplonis opaca (Micronesian starling)

Synonyms: Aplonas opaca; Lamprothornis opaca (homotypic)

Wikipedia Abstract

The Micronesian starling (Aplonis opaca) is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is found in Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Micronesian starlings consume fruit, seeds, the occasional insect and the eggs of seabirds. They are bold around humans and will follow humans in seabird colonies to take the eggs of seabirds flushed by them.
View Wikipedia Record: Aplonis opaca

Infraspecies

Aplonis opaca aenea
Aplonis opaca anga
Aplonis opaca guami (Micronesian Starling)
Aplonis opaca kurodai
Aplonis opaca opaca
Aplonis opaca orii
Aplonis opaca ponapensis

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
1
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
9
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 2.82629
EDGE Score: 1.3419
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  83 grams
Diet [2]  Carnivore (Invertebrates), Carnivore (Vertebrates), Frugivore, Granivore
Diet - Endothermic [2]  10 %
Diet - Fruit [2]  40 %
Diet - Invertibrates [2]  20 %
Diet - Seeds [2]  30 %
Forages - Mid-High [2]  50 %
Forages - Understory [2]  50 %
Clutch Size [3]  2
Clutches / Year [1]  3
Fledging [1]  25 days

Ecoregions

Name Countries Ecozone Biome Species Report Climate Land
Use
Carolines tropical moist forests Micronesia Oceania Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests    
Marianas tropical dry forests Micronesia Oceania Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests    
Palau tropical moist forests Palau Oceania Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Yap tropical dry forests Micronesia Oceania Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests  

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
American Memorial Park   Saipan, Northern Mariana Island  
Guam National Wildlife Refuge 23228 Guam, United States  

Important Bird Areas

Name Location  IBA Criteria   Website   Climate   Land Use 
Middle Ridge, Babeldaob Palau A1, A2
Ngerutechei, Babeldaob Palau A1, A2  
Peleliu Palau A1, A2  
Rock Islands, Palau Palau A1, A2  
Western Ridge, Babeldaob Palau A1, A2  

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name Location Endemic Species Website
Polynesia-Micronesia Fiji, Micronesia, Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga, United States Yes

Prey / Diet

Carica papaya (papaya)[3]
Pithecellobium dulce (monkeypod)[3]

Prey / Diet Overlap

Competing SpeciesCommon Prey Count
Aplonis atrifusca (Samoan Starling)1
Prosopeia tabuensis (Maroon Shining Parrot)1
Pteropus tonganus (Pacific flying fox)1

Range Map

External References

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
♦ 2Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
♦ 3del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0