Letter-winged Kite (Elanus scriptus) - BirdLife species factsheet

Letter-winged Kite Elanus scriptus

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and taxonomy of Australian birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
Christidis, L.; Boles, W. E. 2008. Systematics and taxonomy of Australian birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.

IUCN Red list criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	Near Threatened	D1
2012	Near Threatened	D1
2008	Near Threatened	D1
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	nomadic	Forest dependency	Does not normally occur in forest
Land mass type	Land-mass type - Australia	Average mass	-

Distribution

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence breeding/resident (km2)	2,050,000	medium
Extent of Occurrence non-breeding (km2)	8,830,000	medium
Number of locations		-
Severely Fragmented		-

Population and trend

	Value	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
No. of mature individuals	670-6700	medium	estimated	2001
Population trend	Stable	medium	estimated	-
Decline (3 years/1 generation past)		-	-	-
Decline (5 years/1 generation past)		-	-	-
Decline (10 years/1 generation past)		-	-	-
Decline (10 years/3 generation future)		-	-	-
Decline (10 years/3 generation past and future)		-	-	-
Number of subpopulations		-	-	-
Percentage in largest subpopulation		-	-	-
Generation length (yrs)	6.6	-	-	-

Population justification: The population is almost impossible to assess due to its extreme fluctuations. In years when rats are numerous the species can breed rapidly and be abundant. When rat populations crash following the onset of drought, birds are forced into areas that are outside their normal range and eventually most perish. Little is known about the intervening lean times when the species is rarely seen and populations may fall near to 1,000 individuals. Its population size generally remains between 1,000-10,000 individuals, roughly equivalent to 670-6,700 mature individuals.

Trend justification: Population cycles appear to be linked to those of the principal prey, the plague rat Rattus villossimus, which has population explosions following high rainfall (Olsen 1995). These explosions in population and range rarely last for more than a year, after which the species's distribution again contracts (Garnett 1993). Despite such fluctuations the species is regarded as secure (Garnett 1993).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Occurrence status	Presence	Resident	Breeding	Non-breeding	Passage
Australia	N	Extant	Yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Lake Sylvester System
Australia	Goyder Lagoon

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 1000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threats & impact

Threat (level 1)

Threat (level 2)

Impact and Stresses

Agriculture & aquaculture

Livestock farming & ranching - Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Majority (50-90%)

Negligible declines

Low Impact: 5

Stresses
Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases

Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus