This is a male. Females are browner with less white in the wing coverts. This species was first described by Gould in 1838 based on a specimen from Norfolk Island south of New Caledonia where it is now extinct. It was last seen there in 1942 although reportedly abundant a year before. The extinction was apparently caused by a combination of the clearing of a large area of native forest for the construction of an airport combined with introduction of the Black Rat which arrived on the island in the 1940s. Here in New Caledonia, we still find the endemic subspecies L. l. montrosieri characterized by more white on its wing coverts, grayish-white rump (visible here) and faint buff on belly. Other subspecies occur on San Cristobal (Makira) and Vanuatu.