• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
Christidis, L. and 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., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Least Concern
2016	Near Threatened	B1ab(iii,v)
2012	Near Threatened	B1ab(iii,v)
2009	Near Threatened	B1a+b(iii,v)
2008	Vulnerable
2007	Vulnerable
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1994	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type	Australia	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	12,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	1700-8300, 8100 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2020
Population trend	stable	poor	suspected	-
Generation length	10.6 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	3-10	-	-	-

Population justification: The number of Albert's Lyrebirds (1,700-8,300 mature individuals) is calculated as the product of the territory size (9 ha) applied to three independent measures of the area of occupancy (in Stewart et al. 2021), assuming each 2x2 km square within its range (using data from eBird 2020 and BirdLife Australia 2020) represents 1 km² of suitable habitat. The population is possibly larger as many areas have not been surveyed; consequently, the best estimate (8,100 mature individuals) is placed at the higher end of the population size range. Small isolated subpopulations at Blackwall Range (possibly ten birds; Bower 1997) and Mt Tamborine (23 pairs; Nielsen 2010) continue to persist (BirdLife Australia 2020, eBird 2021) although isolated for well over 50 years.

Trend justification: Earlier sustained declines due to forestry in what is now Whian Whian Conservation Area have ceased and the population is thought to be stable. Some birds died in major fires in 2019–2020 but, based on initial assumptions about mortality at different severity classes (severity low: 10%; medium: 30%; high: 80%; very high: 100%) and maps of fire severity, the total killed was an estimated 6% of the total population with estimates ranging from 4%–8% depending on the fire-related mortality assumptions adopted (G. Ehmke, S.T. Garnett unpublished). In the absence of additional threats, the population is not thought to be undergoing a continuing decline.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Australia	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Nightcap Range
Australia	Scenic Rim
Australia	Tamborine Mountain

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Altitude	300 - 2200 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Wood & pulp plantations - Agro-industry plantations	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		No/Negligible Impact: 2
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Temperature extremes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Lantana camara	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Vulpes vulpes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Negligible declines		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Increase in fire frequency/intensity	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Negligible declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Trend Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 3
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Albert's Lyrebird Menura alberti. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/alberts-lyrebird-menura-alberti on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.