Halmahera Cuckooshrike Coracina parvula (BirdLife species factsheet) is found on Halmahera (in the Northern Maluku Endemic Bird Area), Indonesia, where it inhabits primary and selectively logged hill forest at 100-900 m, apparently being more numerous above 700 m (del Hoyo et al. 2005).
It is currently listed as being of Least Concern, on the basis that it was not thought to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under any of the IUCN Red List criteria.
A recent study by Vetter (2009) used remote sensing techniques to track the rate and spatial pattern of forest loss in the Northern Maluku Endemic Bird Area between 1990 and 2003, and project rates of deforestation over the next three generations for restricted range bird species found in this region, with consequent recommendations for category changes on the IUCN Red List.
This study estimated the rate of forest loss within the geographic and elevation range of Halmahera Cuckooshrike to be c.12.8% between 1990 and 2003, and projected the loss of c.14.6% of forest in its range over the next three generations (estimated by BirdLife to be c.14 years, based on an estimated generation length of c.4.6 years). Vetter (2009) recommends that this species be uplisted to Vulnerable, based on its small range (IUCN Red List criterion B) and the analysis of forest loss; however, the species is not considered to be restricted to fewer than 11 locations and its habitat may not be severely fragmented (over 50% in patches too small to support viable populations).
It is suggested that the species be uplisted to Near Threatened under criterion B1ab(ii,iii,v), on the basis that it has a small range, with its Extent of Occurrence (EOO) estimated at c.16,800 km2, in which suitable habitat may be very fragmented by clearance for logging, agriculture and development, but is not considered severely fragmented under the IUCN definition, and the area and quality of suitable habitat is in continuing decline, with continuing declines in the species’s population inferred as a result.
Comments on this potential category change and further information would be welcomed.
References:
del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Christie, D. (2005) Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions.
Vetter, J. (2009) Impacts of Deforestation on the Conservation Status of Endemic Birds in the North Maluku Endemic Bird Area from 1990-2003. MSc Project. Durham, NC: Duke University.
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