Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species formerly occurred on St Helena, but is now Extinct. It was presumably driven to extinction by introduced predators and severe deforestation, persisting until the mid-1600s.
Population justification
No extant population remains.
Trend justification
This species is thought to have gone extinct around 1640 (Lewis 2008), known only from subfossil remains (Hume 2017), but little is known about the causes of its decline. The arrival of Europeans on St Helena Island in 1502 likely was the beginning of its decline, and habitat loss, the introduction of rats and cats, and possibly a loss of invertebrate prey items all likely contributed to its extinction (Hume 2017).
Upupa antaios was endemic to St Helena (to UK) (Olson 1975).
Nothing is known, though it is likely to have been similar to the extant Upupa species (Olson 1975). The species likely occurred in open ground with reduced vegetation cover within patches of forest (Rowland et al. 1998). The remains were found in Prosperous Bay, in an area once bordered by scrub and Dry Gumwood areas which likely provided suitable habitat for the species (Lewis 2008). The species morphology suggests it was a weak flyer that stayed close to feeding areas where its diet likely consisted of invertebrates (Lewis 2008, Hume 2017).
The exact causes of extinction are unknown, but the species went extinct sometime after the island was discovered in 1502, likely from a combination of introduced predators, and severe deforestation (Hume 2017).
Text account compilers
Khwaja, N., Mahood, S., Richardson, L., Brooks, T.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Saint Helena Hoopoe Upupa antaios. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/saint-helena-hoopoe-upupa-antaios 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.