Saint Helena Hoopoe (Upupa antaios)

Year Last Seen:

1550

Comments:

This species formerly occurred on St Helena, but is now Extinct. It was presumably driven to extinction by hunting soon after the island was discovered in 1502.

Habitat:

Nothing is known, though it is likely to have been similar to the extant Upupa species.

Causes:

The causes of extinction are unknown (Olson 1975b), but presumably it was hunted to extinction by people and introduced predators.

Distribution:

Upupa antaios was a giant, flightless hoopoe, endemic to St Helena (to UK) (Olson 1975b). It is known only from bones and is thought to have become extinct soon after the discovery of the island in 1502.

References:

IUCN Redbook Data