Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species was extirpated from its historic range by introduced mammalian predators; it was last recorded in the 1870s and is classified as Extinct.
Population justification
No extant population remains.
Trend justification
The species apparently went extinct on Little Barrier Island during the 1870s after cats were introduced to the island (Tennyson and Martinson 2006). Another was reputedly shot on Browns Island/Motukorea in the Hauraki Gulf in the 1820s, and it was presumably extirpated from mainland North Island (where it is known from fossil records across the island) by Pacific rats in the prehistoric era (Tennyson and Martinson 2006).
Coenocorypha barrierensis was known only from Little Barrier Island, New Zealand where a single specimen was collected in 1870.
The species is assumed to have had similar habits to the extant Coenocorypha, and thought to have possessed a similar nocturnal aerial display (Tennyson and Martinson 2006). It was likely to have been active both day and night, and to have fed on invertebrates.
The introduction of Pacific rats and feral cats is thought to have caused the extinction of this species (Tennyson and Martinson 2006).
Text account compilers
Vine, J.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Species factsheet: North Island Snipe Coenocorypha barrierensis. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/north-island-snipe-coenocorypha-barrierensis on 09/01/2025.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2025) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 09/01/2025.