Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species was found in the Hawaiian Islands, USA, but became extinct in the 1860s likely as a result of introduced predators. The last specimen was taken in 1864.
Population justification
None remain.
Zapornia sandwichensis occurred on Hawai'i, U.S.A., and may also have occurred on Molokai (Pratt et al. 1987). It is known from bones and a number of specimens (Olson and James 1991), and was illustrated by William Wade Ellis on James Cook's third voyage (Stresemann 1950). The last specimen was collected in 1864 (Taylor and van Perlo 1998).
It inhabited clearings in upland forest.
The timing of its extinction indicates that it was perhaps not caused by mongooses, as they were not introduced until 1883. More probably, it was due to a long process of predation by rats, cats, dogs and people (Taylor and van Perlo 1998). The species was also hunted.
Text account compilers
Vine, J.
Contributors
Brooks, T., Khwaja, N. & Mahood, S.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Hawaiian Rail Zapornia sandwichensis. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/hawaiian-rail-zapornia-sandwichensis on 23/11/2024.
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 23/11/2024.