Aplonis pelzelni Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, pp. 17, 32, pl. 2, fig. 3 (Ponapé); idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878), p. 779 (Ponapé); idem, Journ, f. Ornith., 1880, p. 290 (Ponapé); idem, Ibis, 1881, pp. 110, 112, 115 (Ponapé); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 281 (Ponapé); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 13, 1890, p. 136 (Ponapé); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 43 (Ponapé); Oustalet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 215 (Ponapé); Bolau, Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 62 (Ponapé); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 111, 112 (Ponapé); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 542 (Ponapé); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 355 (Ponapé); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 64 (Ponapé); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 70 (Ponapé); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 849 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 170 (Ponapé); Bequaert, Mushi, 12, 1939, p. 82 (Ponapé); Mayr, Proc. 6th Pacific Sci. Congr., 4, 1941, pp. 204, 213 (Ponapé); Bequaert, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 16, 1941, p. 290 (Ponapé); Mayr. Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 298 (Ponapé).
Aplornis pelzelni Hand-List Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 189 (Ponapé).
Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Ponapé.
Characters.—Adult: A small, dark starling with upper parts sooty-brown, darker on head with forehead and lores blackish; wings, rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail lighter and more brownish than head; underparts paler and washed with olive-brown; bill and feet black; iris brown.
Immature: Resembles adult, but lighter brown, especially the underparts.
A. pelzelni differs from A. opacus by having no gloss on the feathers, smaller size, more slender bill, and a brown iris.
Measurements.—Measurements are listed in [table 46].
Specimens examined.—Total number, 59 (32 males, 24 females, 3 unsexed), from Caroline Islands, AMNH—Ponapé (Dec).
Nesting.—Coultas (field notes) obtained reports that the Ponapé Mountain Starling nests in cavities in trees and lays two eggs.
Table 46. Measurements of Aplonis pelzelni