• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	D1

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Vulnerable	D1
2016	Vulnerable	D1
2015	Critically Endangered	C2a(ii)
2012	Critically Endangered	C2a(ii)
2010	Critically Endangered	C2a(ii)
2009	Critically Endangered	C2a(ii)
2008	Critically Endangered
2007	Critically Endangered
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Endangered
1996	Endangered
1994	Endangered
1988	Threatened

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	70 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	545 mature individuals	good	estimated	2019
Population trend	increasing	medium	estimated	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Generation length	4.4 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: The population was previously estimated at 200-220 mature individuals (T. Prater in litt. 2006). However, surveys in 2008, 2010 and 2015 found 373, 397 and >400 mature individuals respectively (Anon. 2015), and the population also exceeded 250 mature individuals in 2007 (F. Burns in litt. 2008). Surveys in 2016-2019 found >500 mature individuals (Leo et al. 2018), with 559 mature individuals in 2016 (S. Oppel in litt. 2015; Fisher 2016), 627 mature individuals in 2018, and 545 mature individuals in 2019 (S. Oppel in litt. 2019).

Trend justification: Surveys in 1988-1989 (giving a total of c. 450 individuals), repeated in 1998-1999, revealed large declines at all-important pastureland sites. Fieldwork in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 suggested populations had stabilised at c. 350 adults, but survey data from 2005 and 2006 showed further evidence of a decline with an estimated 200-220 mature individuals. A full survey in 2008 located 373 adults, an increase of 16% from 2007, and there was a further population increase to 397 adults in 2010, indicating that some recovery has taken place (F. Burns in litt. 2008; S. Ellick et al. in litt. 2010), although only 350 adults were counted in 2011 (E. Duff in litt. 2011). Since 2011, the general trend has been increasing, with some fluctuations in 2014 and 2019 (S. Oppel in litt. 2019; N. McCulloch in litt. 2020). It is possible that non-native species could cause a slow decline in future, with declines suspected to fall in the range of 1-9% over three generations.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
St Helena (to UK)	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
St Helena (to UK)	Donkey Plain
St Helena (to UK)	Fishers Valley Flat
St Helena (to UK)	Gumwood Hill

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	marginal	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	major	resident
Grassland	Temperate	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Altitude	160 - 680 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance, Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Acridotheres tristis	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Oryctolagus cuniculus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Pheidole megacephala	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Rattus norvegicus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Past Impact
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Natural system modifications	Other ecosystem modifications	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Very Rapid Declines		High Impact: 8
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Residential & commercial development	Commercial & industrial areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Minority (<50%)		Very Rapid Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Residential & commercial development	Tourism & recreation areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion, Reduced reproductive success

Purpose	Scale
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Saint Helena Plover Charadrius sanctaehelenae. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/saint-helena-plover-charadrius-sanctaehelenae 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.