• 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	Near Threatened	A2b; B2b(ii,iii,v)
2016	Near Threatened	C2a(ii)
2012	Near Threatened	C2a(ii)
2008	Near Threatened	C2a(ii)
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Threatened

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type	Australia	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	244,000 km2	medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	294 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	1500-6000, 3000 mature individuals	poor	suspected	2020
Population trend	decreasing	poor	inferred	1998-2008
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Generation length	2.34 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: There have been no attempts to estimate the population size of Chestnut-breasted Whitefaces since 1990 when the population was estimated at <1,500 mature individuals between Lyndhurst and the Birdsville Track, <2,000 near Oodnadatta and <2,500 between Coober Pedy and Port Augusta (Pedler 1991, 1992) with no evidence of declines detected in a repeat survey in 1999 or part survey in 2007 (Pedler et al. 2007). However, there have been no records near Lyndhurst since July 2016 despite searching and no confirmed records along the Birdsville track for several decades. The population is therefore suspected to be in the range 1,500-6,000 individuals with a best estimate of 3,000 (Pedler and Garnett 2021).

Trend justification: Since the 1990 population estimate, there were no evidence of declines detected in a repeat survey in 1999 or part survey in 2007 (Pedler et al. 2007). In a good season, it occurred at densities of about 0.07 birds/ha at Lyndhurst (Pedler 1992) with c.70 in 1991, >27 in 1999 and >30 in 2007. Although numbers varied with rainfall (Pedler et al. 2007), they could always be found. However, there have been no records near Lyndhurst since July 2016 despite searching and no confirmed records along the Birdsville track for several decades, suggesting an overall decline approaching 30%. The current absence of records, despite searching, coincides with rainfall over the last four years in the lowest decile of four years rainfall totals (Bureau of Meteorology 2020).

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Bulgunnia
Australia	Granite Downs
Australia	Mount Lyndhurst

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 380 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

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%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Temperature extremes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Capra hircus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Negligible declines		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Oryctolagus cuniculus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		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		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Chestnut-breasted Whiteface Aphelocephala pectoralis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/chestnut-breasted-whiteface-aphelocephala-pectoralis 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.