Data Zone
Justification of Red List Category
This species was endemic to the island of Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia, but it has been driven Extinct by habitat changes and introduced predators. The last records date from the 1930s; a survey in 1972 failed to locate it.
Population justification
None believed to remain.
Pomarea nukuhivae was formerly endemic to the island of Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia. It was considered not common in 1922 and rare in the 1930s, the last confirmed sightings. It was not seen in 1972 or 1975 despite several weeks of intensive searches. There were unconfirmed sightings in 1975 by two hunters of a passerine bird matching this species's description, but the species was not seen 1997 or 1999 (Thibault and Meyer 2001) and is considered extinct.
This mainly insectivorous species occurred in forested valleys at high elevations and in degraded forest at all altitudes (probably originally preferring lowland forests which are now destroyed).
All the Marquesas Islands have been devastated by intense grazing and fire, and much of the original dry forest has been reduced to grassland, and upland forest to relict forest patches. Introduced species are also likely to have played a role in the species's demise, especially black rat Rattus rattus.
Text account compilers
Butchart, S., Khwaja, N., Mahood, S., Temple, H., Martin, R
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Species factsheet: Pomarea nukuhivae. Downloaded from
http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/nuku-hiva-monarch-pomarea-nukuhivae on 30/05/2023.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2023) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
http://datazone.birdlife.org on 30/05/2023.
