St. Helena Plover (Charadrius sanctaehelenae)
About the St. Helena Plover
The Saint Helena plover (Anarhynchus sanctaehelenae), locally known as the wirebird due to its thin legs, is a small wader endemic to the island of Saint Helena in the mid-Atlantic. The bird is similar in appearance to Kittlitz's plover and the Madagascar plover, but a little larger and an absence of chamois coloring. It is the national bird of St Helena and has been depicted on the country's coins. Populations in general have been declining. Threats include predation by cats, the introduction of the common myna, deforestation, off-road vehicle use, the Saint Helena Airport and a projected windfarm. As of 2021, the population had recovered to about 545 mature individuals, from a previous minimum of less than 200 in 2006; consequently, the species was downlisted to Vulnerable from its previous assessment of Critically Endangered.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 1 recording for this species: 1 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in United Kingdom in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Common Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticularecording
- Eurasian DotterelCharadrius morinellusrecording
- Kentish PloverCharadrius alexandrinusrecording
- KilldeerCharadrius vociferusrecording
- Little Ringed PloverCharadrius dubiusrecording
- Semipalmated PloverCharadrius semipalmatusrecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.