Current view: Data table and detailed info
Taxonomic source(s)
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. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Red List history
| Migratory status |
not a migrant |
Forest dependency |
high |
| Land-mass type |
shelf island
|
Average mass |
108 g |
Population justification: The population size is now probably very small. Historically described as fairly common to abundant (e.g. Whitehead 1899, Gilliard 1950, Collar and Andrew 1988) but by the turn of the 21st century was already described as 'very rare on Luzon, and numbers must be small on Marinduque' (BirdLife International 2001). Now almost certainly extirpated from large parts of its range, including Marinduque, Quezon region and the Cordillera Mountains. Most recently described as 'rare and very local' (Allen 2020) and citizen science data (eBird 2024) affirm this suggestion, with records from only west Luzon (Zambales Mountains south to Subic Bay area [including Bataan NP]) and the Sierra Madre mountains. Distance sampling along nearly 500 km of line transects at 14 sites across Luzon in 2009-2010 multiplied by site-specific density estimates across reserve area, resulted in estimates of 246 individuals (95% CI: 42-1,434) in Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park, and 174 (95% CI: 80-380) in Subic Bay Forest Reserve/Bataan Natural Park (Española et al. 2013). An additional population in the Zambales Mountains north of the latter was not surveyed but encounter rates there appear broadly similar to Subic Bay/Bataan (eBird 2024) and the area of suitable habitat is also similar, thus an equivalent population here is also estimated. All populations have likely declined since the estimates were made by Española et al. (2013) given ongoing threats of habitat loss and trapping, particularly in the Sierra Madre where these are perhaps most acute and from which there are very few records over the past decade (notwithstanding limited survey effort). Contemporary population sizes are therefore estimated at: 100-300 in the Sierra Madre, and 100-250 in each of the Subic Bay Forest Reserve/Bataan NP and Zambales Mountains, giving a total population size of 300-800 mature individuals.
Trend justification: Evidently has declined catastrophically in response to forest clearance, trapping, and perhaps other factors not yet fully understood. At one time known from hill forests across much of Luzon and Marinduque (BirdLife International 2001). Not recorded in the Cordillera mountains since specimens were collected in the 1890s, nor from Marinduque since 1970 (duPont 1972, Collar et al. 1999, BirdLife International 2001), although in both places the species probably persisted later than these dates suggest. Occurred in Quezon National Park (where apparently common during 1980s: Collar and Andrew 1988) up until at least the 1990s but no records since (BirdLife International 2001, Allen 2020, eBird 2024). Persists only in (1) the Subic Bay area and Zambales Mountains in the west, and (2) the Sierra Madre Mountains in the north-east. While the Subic Bay Forest Reserve is well protected (and numbers of this species probably stable), this represents only a small area of suitable habitat, and in the more expansive Zambales Mountains approximately 5% of forest cover has been lost since 2000 (with 2016 a particularly bad year for clearance) (Global Forest Watch 2024, based on data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods therein). Moreover habitat continues to be degraded (Grantham et al. 2020) and new roads and trails (e.g. the Daang Kalikasan Road) have likely opened up new opportunities for trappers; given these threats have extirpated the species from elsewhere, it is highly likely the population here is declining. In the Sierra Madre, forest cover loss has been at a similar rate (c.6% since 2000; Global Forest Watch 2024) but concerningly this has been concentrated at the lowest elevations, which is likely to have disproportionately impacted this species (see BirdLife International 2001 for discussion on likely elevational preferences). Moreover, a rapid increase in the number of tracks traversing the Sierra Madre (particularly in the south) brings with it a concomitant increase in trapping pressure. While survey coverage of the Sierra Madre remains relatively low, it has been recorded on a concerningly low percentage of citizen science eBird checklists (eBird 2024) and surveys in December 2009-September 2010 by Española et al. (2013) found them at a density 30x lower than in west Luzon, suggesting potentially rapid declines in this region over the past three decades given it was still widespread there in the 1980s and 1990s (summary in BirdLife International 2001). The probable extirpation of Tanygnathus everetti from the Sierra Madre (see Collar et al. 2020) is evidence that threats in this region can operate an acuity capable of driving extirpation; in the absence of any threat mitigation it seems likely this population will continue to decline rapidly.
Overall, this species is inferred to be declining, although in the absence of any surveys following up the work of Española et al. (2013), or an attempt to quantify the impact of trapping, the rate of decline is currently unknown.
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Green Racquet-tail Prioniturus luconensis. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/green-racquet-tail-prioniturus-luconensis on 22/11/2024.
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 22/11/2024.
