Characters.—Adult: Resembles A. o. opacus, but larger with a longer bill and richer green luster on the back and breast.
Immature: Resembles immature of A. o. opacus, but underparts more brightly streaked but still dingy in appearance.
Measurements.—Measurements are listed in [table 45].
Specimens examined.—Total number, 47 (31 males, 16 females), as follows: Caroline Islands, USNM—Ponapé, 1 (Feb. 11); AMNH—Ponapé, 46 (Nov., Dec.).
Nesting.—Yamashina (1932a:394) reports the taking of an egg on August 2, 1931, and two eggs on August 30, 1931, at Ponapé. Coultas (field notes) writes that the nests of these birds are hidden in the tops of the tree-ferns and in holes in the trees. The natives told him that the starling lays two eggs.
Molt.—Most of the adult specimens taken by Coultas in November and December, 1931, are in molting plumage.
Remarks.—Coultas (field notes) writes that the starling is a common bird at Ponapé. He found it in flocks of from two to 12 or more birds. As at Kusaie he noted more birds in the immature plumage than in the adult plumage at Ponapé. The starling occurs in large numbers even though the people of the island hunt this bird persistently for part of their food supply.
The Micronesian Starling at Palau has the longest wing of any of the subspecies of Aplonis opacus. It most closely resembles A. o. opacus; both of these subspecies have only a faint amount of bronzy-green luster of the feathers, and the immatures have dingy yellow streaks on the abdomen.