Pomarea nigra, the Tahiti Monarch or Tahiti Flycatcher, is a rare species of bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 in the Monarch flycatcher family. It is endemic to Tahiti

Tahiti

Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...

 in French Polynesia

French Polynesia

French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...

. There are fewer than 50 individuals remaining.

This bird is 15 centimeters long and black in color with a pale blue bill. The juvenile is reddish brown. The call sounds like tick-tick-tick and the song is "flute-like".

This bird is found in only four valleys in Tahiti. It lives in the canopy and understory in forests among mara trees (Neonauclea forsteri).

Threats to the species include the degradation of its forest habitat by the invasion

Invasive species

"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

 of exotic plant species

Introduced species

An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...

, including Miconia calvescens

Miconia calvescens

The velvet tree, miconia, or bush currant is a species of flowering plant in the family Melastomataceae. It is native to Mexico and Central and South America but is best known for being arguably the worst invasive plant in Hawaii, where it is commonly referred to as the "purple plague", and...

 and Spathodea campanulata. The forest is also degraded by goat

Goat

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...

 activity. Predation by rats and cats is a threat. The Tahiti Kingfisher (Todiramphus veneratus) is a competitor

Competition (biology)

Competition is an interaction between organisms or species, in which the fitness of one is lowered by the presence of another. Limited supply of at least one resource used by both is required. Competition both within and between species is an important topic in ecology, especially community ecology...

.

External links

• BirdLife International 2006. Pomarea nigra. 2011 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 12 September 2011.