Aerodramus leucophaeus breeds on Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands,
French Polynesia. The nominate
leucophaeus breeds only on Tahiti in the Society Islands,
French Polynesia, where it was recorded in five valleys in 1971-1974 (Holyoak and Thibault 1984), and in six valleys (out of 39 visited) during the period 1986-1991 (Monnet
et al. 1993), apparently never having been abundant in the 20th century (Holyoak and Thibault 1984). The population of this form is estimated to be below 1,000 birds and stable. It was formerly encountered on Huahine and (possibly) Bora Bora, while records from Moorea in 1973 may have referred to vagrants from Tahiti (Holyoak and Thibault 1984, Monnet
et al. 1993, P. Raust
in litt. 1999, 2012).
A. l. ocistus and
A. l. gilliardi are common on the Marquesas Islands, occurring on Eiao, Nuku Hiva and Ua Huka, and Ua Pu, Hiva Oa and Tahuata respectively.
Rights Holder: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Bibliographic Citation: BirdLife International 2014.
Aerodramus leucophaeus. In: IUCN 2014 . IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1 . <
www.iucnredlist.org>
