Justification This species has a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Family/Sub-family Tytonidae

Species name author (Gould, 1845)

Taxonomic source(s) Norman et al. (2002)

Taxonomic note Tyto tenebricosa and T. multipunctata (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993, Christidis and Boles 1994) have been lumped into T. tenebricosa following Norman et al. (2002) and Christidis and Boles (2008).

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

unknown

unset

-

No

Range & population This species has a large range along the west coast of Australia and on New Guinea (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea). Subspecies multipunctata, sometimes treated as a separate species, is a restricted-range taxon, being found only in a substantial area of rainforest in north-east Queensland (Australia), between Shiptons Flat (south of Cooktown), south to Bluewater range (north of Townsville), and inland to Mt Carbine, Atherton and Ravenshoe. Its range may extend to south of Townsville, to Mt Elliott.

Ecology: In Australia, it prefers deep, wet gully forest dominated by eucalypts, occurring in drier forest only when hunting; in New Guinea it occurs in lowland and montane rainforest and Araucaria pine forest, emerging into subalpine grassland and alpine boulderfields and ridges at altitudes of up to 4000 m to hunt (Bruce 1999).

Threats Some of subspecies multipunctata habitat has been cleared for agriculture, but a large area remains (Garnett 1992), and all logging has now stopped. There is some fragmentation of its former habitat, but in other areas, rainforest is rapidly expanding.

References Garnett 1992, Bruce 1999, Higgins 1999, Konig et al. 1999.

Text account compilers Helen Temple (BirdLife International)

IUCN Red List evaluators Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Tyto tenebricosa. 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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