Current view: Data table and detailed info
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.
IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Red List history
| Migratory status |
full migrant |
Forest dependency |
medium |
| Land-mass type |
Australia
|
Average mass |
- |
Population justification: The density of P. phoenicea has been estimated at 0.5 mature individuals/ha (Higgins & Peter 2002). Newman et al. (2020) applied this density to a set of predicted AOO values based on a tight polygon encompassing all records since 1990 (alpha hull) in which at least some birds are thought to have survived the 2019–2020 fires. The minimum is based on the 2x2 km squares encompassing those records (25,300 km2); the maximum is an alpha hull encompassing all records regardless of whether they burnt (207,000 km2). Newman et al. (2020) considered the best estimate to be 187,000 km2, resulting in an estimated population size of 8,700,000 mature individuals (range: 1,200,000-9,600,000).
Trend justification:
The population is thought to have declined by 7% as a result of the 2019–2020 fires based on assumptions about mortality in different fire severity classes (severity low: mortality of 10% assumed; medium: 30%; high: 80%; very high: 100%) with estimates ranging from 5%–9% depending on the fire-related mortality assumptions adopted (Newman et al. 2020). However, these fires may ultimately benefit the species (Loyn 1980, 1985; Lindenmayer et al. 2014). Reporting rates from Birdata (BirdLife Australia 2020), analysed for both annual and breeding seasons (August–January) for the mainland, showed zero trends over the last decade (2009–2019) for 2-ha 20-min surveys and 500-m radius area searches, although reporting rates in all surveys were low. In Tasmania, there was evidence of a 49% decline for the period 2014–2019 in the Hobart and Mt Wellington Range, but the paucity of data did not permit extrapolation (Newman et al. 2020). At Pyengana (north-eastern Tasmania) and in northern Tasmania, there were decadal declines of 60% (500-m area search) and 61% (5-km area search), respectively (Newman et al. 2020). However, the statewide trend, which contains uncorrected bias, indicates a relatively stable population (Newman et al. 2017). A separate analysis of 72 sites in Tasmanian Midlands found no significant difference between 1996–1998 and 2016 (Bain et al. 2020), but there was no monitoring in the intervening period. Despite recent fire-related mortality and evidence for declines in some parts of Tasmania, which holds a small proportion of the total population, the earlier concern of a decline of 20%–29% in three generations (Garnett et al. 2011) has not eventuated across the range of the species. The species is therefore suspected to be declining, but not at a rate that meets or approaches listing as threatened.
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Flame Robin Petroica phoenicea. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/flame-robin-petroica-phoenicea 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.
