CreatureData

Saint Helena plover

Charadrius sanctaehelenae (Harting, 1873)

VUVulnerablebirds

The saint helena plover (Charadrius sanctaehelenae) is a species in the family Charadriidae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 41.8 g to 48.7 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

Saint Helena plover (Charadrius sanctaehelenae)
Photo: Andrew Neaum (Uploader was Peterneaum at en.wikipedia ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the saint helena plover

Weight
41.8 g – 48.7 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
grasslandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the saint helena plover live?

Not recorded

What is the saint helena plover?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

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.

From the Wikipedia article “Saint Helena plover” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saint_Helena_plover&oldid=1381666175), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the saint helena plover endangered?

The saint helena plover is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species. What the categories mean.

How is the saint helena plover classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyCharadriidae
  6. genusCharadrius
  7. SpeciesCharadrius sanctaehelenae (Harting, 1873)

Synonyms Aegialitis sanctaehelenae, Anarhynchus sanctaehelenae

Other names and names in other languages (32)
  • St Helena ploverEnglish
  • St. Helena ploverEnglish
  • St. Helena ploverEnglish
  • St. Helena ploverEnglish
  • WirebirdEnglish
  • Corriol de Santa HelenaCatalan
  • corriol de l'illa Santa HelenaCatalan
  • kulík dlouhonohýCzech
  • cwtiad Ynys St HelenaWelsh
  • Skt. Helena-præstekraveDanish
  • HelenaregenpfeiferGerman
  • St. Helena-RegenpfeiferGerman
  • St.-Helena-RegenpfeiferGerman
  • Chorlitejo de Santa ElenaSpanish
  • saint helena tüllEstonian
  • sainthelenantylliFinnish
  • Pluvier de Sainte-HélèneFrench
  • svetohelenski kulikCroatian
  • Szent Ilona-szigeti lileHungarian
  • Corriere di Sant'ElenaItalian
  • セントヘレナチドリJapanese
  • Šventosios Elenos salos kirlikasLithuanian
  • Sankthelenalo (St. Helenalo)Norwegian Bokmål
  • sankthelenaloNorwegian Bokmål
  • Sint-HelenaplevierDutch
  • sieweczka atlantyckaPolish
  • batuíra-de-santa-helenaPortuguese
  • borrelho-de-santa-helenaPortuguese
  • Сантаеленский зуёкRussian
  • kulík ostrovnýSlovak
  • sankthelenapipareSwedish
  • пісочник атлантичнийUkrainian

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the saint helena plover

Other species in the same genus Charadrius.

CompareSaint Helena plover vs Little ringed ploverSaint Helena plover vs Common ringed ploverSaint Helena plover vs Kentish ploverSaint Helena plover vs Eurasian dotterel

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the saint helena plover?

An adult saint helena plover weighs 41.8 g – 48.7 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the saint helena plover endangered?

The saint helena plover is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

What kind of animal is the saint helena plover?

The saint helena plover (Charadrius sanctaehelenae) belongs to the family Charadriidae in the order Charadriiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Saint Helena plover (Charadrius sanctaehelenae). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/saint-helena-plover

MLA

“Saint Helena plover (Charadrius sanctaehelenae).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/saint-helena-plover.

BibTeX
@misc{saint_helena_plover_2026,
  title = {Saint Helena plover (Charadrius sanctaehelenae)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/saint-helena-plover},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}