Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species was known from Mauritius, and possibly Reunion. It persisted into the mid-1700s despite heavily hunting and persecution, but severe deforestation during the 18th century appears to have rapidly driven it to extinction by the end of the 1750s.
Population justification
None remain.
Trend justification
This species was apparently abundant, but heavily hunted for food and persecuted for damaging crops (Dubois 1674, Hume 2017). However, it remained common until the 1750s (Hume 2017). On Mauritius, the species was last recorded in 1759, and likely went extinct from severe deforestation which commenced in the 1730s (Hume 2017). It may have become extinct on Reunion earlier (although it is uncertain whether records pertain to this species or a close relative), with the last record from the island in 1732 (Hume 2017).
Lophopsittacus bensoni was described from a lower mandible, palatine and tarsometatarsus found in caves near Port Louis, Mauritius (Holyoak 1973). There are also a number of reports of small grey parrots from Réunion which probably refer to this or a closely related species (Cheke 1987).
Very little is known about this species, but it presumably inhabited forest.
This species was heavily hunted for consumption, and persecuted for damaging crops (Dubois 1674, Hume 2017). However, it persisted and was apparently common until the 1750s (Hume 2017). The species was last sighted in 1759, so it appears to have undergone a rapid decline, likely due to severe deforestation starting from the 1730s (Hume 2017).
Text account compilers
Khwaja, N., Martin, R., Mahood, S., Brooks, T., Richardson, L.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Mauritius Grey Parrot Lophopsittacus bensoni. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/mauritius-grey-parrot-lophopsittacus-bensoni on 23/12/2024.
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 23/12/2024.