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

Taxonomic note

Geospiza psittacula (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) was previously placed in the genus Camarhynchus following SACC (2005 & updates); Sibley & Monroe (1990, 1993); Stotz et al. (1996).

 

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.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	A2bce+3bce+4bce

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Vulnerable	A2bce+3bce+4bce
2016	Vulnerable	A2be+3be+4be
2015	Vulnerable	A2be+3be+4be
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	26,500 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	20000-49999 mature individuals	medium	suspected	2020
Population trend	decreasing	-	inferred	2016-2026
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-49%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-49%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-49%	-	-	-
Generation length	3.1 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as 'uncommon' in at least parts of its range (Stotz et al. 1996). On the island of Santa Cruz its population has been estimated at 9,000 singing males (Dvorak et al. 2012). However no data exists for the islands of Isabela and Santiago. Tentatively, the population is here placed in the band 20,000-49,999 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The population is assumed to be decreasing rapidly. On the island of Santa Cruz, the species reportedly declined significantly in the dry zone between 1997 and 2010, but not in the Scalesia zone (Dvorak et al. 2012). Habitat alteration, introduced pathogens and parasites and changes in insect availability may have contributed to declines. On the islands of Isabela and Santiago, where native forest has also been degraded by introduced herbivores, population declines are also suspected (Dvorak et al. 2012). In the agricultural zone on Santa Cruz, the relative abundance of this species declined from 0.8 in 1997 to 0.7 in 2010 and 0.38 in 2019 (Geladi et al. 2021). The overall rate of decline is therefore here tentatively placed in the band 30-49% over ten years (see also Freile et al. 2019). In view of ongoing threats, declines are suspected to continue at the same rate into the future.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Ecuador	Isla Floreana
Ecuador	Isla San Cristóbal
Ecuador	Puerto Ayora
Ecuador	Tierras altas de Isabela
Ecuador	Tierras altas de Santa Cruz
Ecuador	Tierras altas de Santiago

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Altitude	300 - 700 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, 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%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		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%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		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%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Philornis downsi	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Viral/prion-induced diseases - Avipoxvirus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Large Tree-finch Geospiza psittacula. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/large-tree-finch-geospiza-psittacula 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.