Family/Sub-family Acanthisittidae

Species name author (Gmelin, 1789)

Taxonomic source(s) Brooks (2000), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993), Turbott (1990)

Summary Xenicus longipes was endemic to the three main islands of New Zealand, with variabilis of Stewart Island last recorded in 1965, stokesi of the North Island in 1949, and the nominate race of the South Island in 1972¹.

Ecology: On the mainland, it was a species of dense, montane forest, while on offshore islands it was found in coastal forest and scrub³.

Threats Its decline was presumably caused by introduced predators³, to which it was particularly vulnerable, being a ground-nester².

References 1. Collar et al. (1994). 2. Greenway (1967). 3. Robertson (1985). 4. Williams and Given (1981).

Text account compilers Tom Brooks (Conservation International), Simon Mahood (BirdLife International)

IUCN Red List evaluators Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Tom Brooks (Conservation International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Alison Stattersfield (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Xenicus longipes. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/2/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

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