Red Moustache Fruit Dove
Range and population/Extinct
Ptilinopus mercierii was endemic to forest in the Marquesas, French Polynesia , with the nominate subspecies on Nuku Hiva and subspecies tristrami on Hiva Oa3. While the former is only known from the type collected during the 1836-1839 voyage of the Venus, the latter is known from at least 11 specimens, the last collected by the Whitney Expedition in 19223. The species was reported on Hiva Oa in 19802, but this was probably a mistake1. Its extinction has been attributed to predation by the introduced Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus3, as well as by introduced rats and cats.