Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This recently-recognised Extinct pigeon is known from a single tarsometatarsus and possibly a femur. It may have survived into the 17th century but most likely disappeared by the 1690s owing to predation by invasive rats.
Population justification
The species is Extinct.
Trend justification
This species is known from only a single tarsometatarsus and possibly a femur (Hume 2017). Rodrigues Island was used as a refurbishment station from at least 1601 (Cheke and Hume 2008), and the small island was already infested with rats by the time explorers arrived in the 1690s (Hume 2017), suggesting this was the cause of the species extinction.
Alectroenas payandeei was described by Hume (2011) from a single subfossil tarsometatarsus bone found on the island of Rodrigues (Mauritius). It was not seen by competent observers who visited Rodrigues in 1691-1693 and 1725-1726 and was likely driven to extinction during the 17th century by invasive rats (Hume 2011).
Nothing known, but presumably inhabited forest.
The island was used as a refurbishment station for shipping from at least 1601, presumably leading to the arrival of rats, which were noted to be present in large numbers in 1691-1693 (Leguat 1708), and were likely the primary cause of the species' extinction. The very small size of Rodrigues Island always would have made the species extremely susceptible to any threats and anthropogenic changes (Hume 2017).
Text account compilers
Symes, A., Taylor, J., Richardson, L., Martin, R.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Rodrigues Blue-pigeon Alectroenas payandeei. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/rodrigues-blue-pigeon-alectroenas-payandeei 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.