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

Taxonomic source(s)
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
2023	Near Threatened	B1b(ii,iii)
2016	Vulnerable	D1
2012	Vulnerable	D1
2008	Vulnerable	D1
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	18,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2500-10000, 6500 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2022
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	2016-2027
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Generation length	3.89 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-100	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: This species is poorly understood, with recent records mostly from Tirotonga Village where it is described as fairly common (Dutson 2011). The species is protected in this area with a density of approximately five calling birds per 1.5 km² block, although it is suspected to be scarce across most of its range (J. Bergmark in litt. 2022). Based on this density and assuming that 50% of suitable habitat is occupied, the species’ population size is estimated to number approximately 6,500 mature individuals and is tentatively placed here in the range 2,500-10,000. There is much uncertainty surrounding this population estimate however and it may be much lower; density is high around Tirotonga village where the species is actively protected but it is suspected to be very scarce across the remainder of its range (J. Bergmark in litt. 2022).
It is described as uncommon at the headwaters of the Kolosita River on Santa Isabel, with up to five individuals reported daily around 600 m (DeCicco et al. 2019). It was formerly reasonably common, at least on Bougainville, where 40 specimens were collected before 1938 (Erritzoe and Erritzoe 1998). It was then not recorded until 1994 when it was found to be fairly common at Tirotonga on Santa Isabel (Gibbs 1996), with up to three birds heard calling simultaneously (D. Gibbs in litt. 1994, Gibbs 1996, G. Dutson pers. obs. 1998). Searches and interviews on Choiseul and Bougainville have been unsuccessful (D. Gibbs in litt. 1994, K. D. Bishop in litt. 1997, G. Dutson pers. obs. 1998) until it was recorded on Choiseul in 2014 (Boseto and Pikacha 2015), although is possibly extirpated on Bougainville (Hadden 2004, Woxvold and Novera 2021).

Trend justification: There are no data on population trends; however, the species is suspected to be declining owing to forest loss and degradation. In the three generations (11.7 years; Bird et al. 2020) to 2021, remote sensing data indicate that 5-7% of forest was lost in the species' range (Global Forest Watch 2022, using data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein) and this may accelerate slightly (to an equivalent rate of 7-9%) in the future based on losses in 2016-2021. The rate of population decline is tentatively placed here in the range 1-9% within three generations.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Papua New Guinea	possibly extant	native	yes
Solomon Islands	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Solomon Islands	Kolombangara Upland Forest
Solomon Islands	Mount Maetambe - Kolombangara River

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Moist	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 600 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Canis familiaris	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Named species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Black-faced Pitta Pitta anerythra. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/black-faced-pitta-pitta-anerythra 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.