South Island Piopio (Turnagra capensis)

Posted on 31 December, 1905 in Extinct

Year Last Seen:

1905

Comments:

This species is known from New Zealand's South Island, but is now Extinct as a result predation and habitat destruction. The last confirmed record was of the nominate subspecies, in 1905.

Habitat:

It was observed foraging in native forest undergrowth.

Causes:

Its extinction was probably mainly due to predation by introduced mammals (Greenway 1967), but habitat destruction is likely to have been a contributing factor.

Distribution:

Turnagra capensis, according to Walter Buller, was common until 1863 on the South Island, New Zealand, from where it is known from numerous specimens (Greenway 1967). However, the species declined very rapidly in the 1880s, and the definite record was from 1905 (Tennyson and Martinson 2006). There have been unconfirmed reports since, including in 1963 (Knox and Walters 1994).

References:

IUCN Redbook Data