Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species was known from the island of Réunion, but it has gone Extinct as a result of hunting pressure. The last record of wild birds dates from 1775.
Population justification
None remain.
Trend justification
Very little is known about this species in life, or about the reasons of its extinction (Hume 2017). It was first mentioned by Dubois (1674) in 1671-72 and for the last time on Reunion at the beginning of the 18th century (Hume 2007, Cheke and Hume 2008). However, the species persisted in rare captivity throughout Europe for sometime, but almost certainly did not survive beyond 1800 (Hume 2007).
Mascarinus mascarin was described by numerous early travellers to Réunion (to France), with several captive birds shipped to France in the late 18th century. There are also vague accounts that may relate to the species from Mauritius (Temple 1914) but there are no fossil remains to confirm these accounts.
Nothing is known, although it is likely to have inhabited forest where it fed on fruits and nuts. An account by Feuilley (1705) suggests the species fed on seeds, and underwent vertical migration, assume on fat deposits (Hume 2017).
The species was hunted regularly (Hume 2017), both for consumption (Feuilley 1705) and for the cage bird trade, as several specimens were exported to Europe (Hume 2017). There is little information on the cause of extinction for this species, but exploitation was undoubtedly the major driver.
Text account compilers
Symes, A., Khwaja, N., Martin, R., Mahood, S., Brooks, T., Richardson, L.
Contributors
Le Corre, M.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Mascarene Parrot Mascarinus mascarin. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/mascarene-parrot-mascarinus-mascarin on 26/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 26/12/2024.