Grey-headed Robin (Heteromyias cinereifrons) | Details

Grey-headed Robin Heteromyias cinereifrons

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic note

Heteromyias albispecularis, H. armiti and H. cinereifrons (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as H. albispecularis (see Christidis and Boles [1994, 2008]).

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.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Near Threatened	A2bc+3c+4bc
2016	Least Concern
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	high
Land-mass type		Average mass	36 g

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	32,000 km²
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	490000-770000,610000 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2020
Population trend	decreasing	-	estimated	2011-2026
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Generation length	4.6 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	3	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The abundance of H. cinereifrons is calculated from the density and distribution of birds and the area of climatically suitable habitat at different altitudes in 2016 (Williams et al. 2010a).

Trend justification: There has been a decline in population size in the last three generations, as predicted by climate change modelling (Williams et al. 2003, Li et al. 2009). Annual monitoring undertaken from 2000–2016 (1,970 plots, 62 different locations, 0–1,500 m altitude) revealed a highly significant 26.6% decline in the total population over the three generations to 2016 from an estimated 840,000 to 610,000 individuals. Declines occurred at lower, mid- and higher altitudes (Williams & de la Fuente 2021). These declines are broadly consistent with a 19% decline between 2000–2007 and 2013–2019 in the proportion of weeks in which the species was recorded (from 94% to 76%) at the School for Field Studies Centre near Danbulla (740–780 m; A. Freeman and M. Craig unpublished, in Williams et al. 2021) and in reporting rates for 2-ha 20-min surveys and 500-m radius area searches from 1999–2018 that declined at a rate of 44% and 12% in three generations respectively (BirdLife Australia 2020). Combining these analyses, Williams et al. (2021) estimated a global rate of decline approaching 30% over the past three generations (13.8 years; Bird et al. 2020).

Country/territory distribution

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

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Altitude	55 - 2600 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threats & impact

Threat (level 1)

Threat (level 2)

Impact and Stresses

Climate change & severe weather

Habitat shifting & alteration

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Whole (>90%)

Slow, Significant Declines

Medium Impact: 7

Stresses
Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation