• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Justification of Red List category
This species was endemic to St Helena Island and the surrounding waters. It probably became extinct due to widespread deforestation on the island, as well as predation by rats and cats.

Population justification
No extant population remains.

Trend justification
Very little is known about this species, known only from Pleistocene and Holocene subfossil deposits (Hume 2017), and the causes of declines are mostly speculation. It is suggested that the species was already in decline prior to the arrival of humans on St Helena island as result of natural environmental pressures (Olson 1975, Rowlands et al. 1998), but it went extinct sometime after the island was discovered in 1502 (Rowlands et al. 1998) likely as a result of deforestation and introduced mammals (Hume 2017).

Pterodroma rupinarum was one of three petrel species known only from the fossil record of St Helena (to UK).

The species may have occurred throughout the island, but foraged at sea. It nested in burrows (Hume 2017).

The ultimate cause of extinction is unknown, but likely occurred due to deforestation and invasive species during the early 16th century (Hume 2017). Introduced species to the island include goats, pigs, rats and mice (Hume 2017), with cats subsequently introduced to attempt to control the outbreak of rats (Bolton et al. 2011). As the species nested in burrows, rats and mice would have especially impacted it through nest predation, with the introduction of cats likely rapidly driving it to extinction shortly after their introduction (Hume 2017).

Text account compilers
Richardson, L.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Large Saint Helena Petrel Pterodroma rupinarum. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/large-saint-helena-petrel-pterodroma-rupinarum on 24/11/2024.
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 24/11/2024.