The bill showed a pale bluish grey hue and had a black tip.

The underwing coverts and outer webs to flight feathers were greyish blue.

The causes of its decline were likely habitat loss due to forest clearing, hunting, and invasive species.

The date of their origin was discussed, with Erwin Stresemann (1950) and James Greenway (1958) suggesting 1773 or 1774.

However, in 1979 the ornithologist David G. Medway from New Zealand claimed that the two specimens were taken in November 1777 during the third circumnavigation by James Cook.