Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species was endemic to the island of Rodrigues, Mauritius, but it has not been recorded since 1875 and is now Extinct. It is thought that hunting and habitat loss were major contributors to its decline, and that the final blow may have been dealt by vicious storms in 1876.
Population justification
None remain.
Trend justification
The species appeared to be abundant in 1691-93 (Leguat 1708), but by the time the first specimen was recieved in 1871 (Newton 1872), it was apparently scarce. Only one individual was seen in forests on the south-western side of Rodrigues (Slater 1879), and few were seen in 1875 (Caldwell 1875) when the last specimen was collected (Newton and Newton 1876). The remaining population was likely wiped out by a series of cyclones which struck the island in 1876 (Cheke 1987). The species was reportedly good to eat (Leguat 1708), so hunting also likely contributed to their decline.
Alexandrinus exsul was endemic to forests on Rodrigues, Mauritius (Cheke 1987).
It was presumably a forest species which fed on fruits, nuts and seeds.
The species' extinction was presumably caused by a combination of habitat loss and hunting (Cheke 1987).
Text account compilers
Martin, R., Richardson, L., Khwaja, N., Brooks, T., Butchart, S., Mahood, S.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Rodrigues Parakeet Alexandrinus exsul. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/rodrigues-parakeet-alexandrinus-exsul 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.