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

Taxonomic note
Gallirallus conditicius (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993), known only from the type reputedly collected in the Apiang Group of the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati, in 1861, is not recognised as a separate species but is treated as a synonym of H. sylvestris (Greenway 1952, Olson 1992).

Hypotaenidia sylvestris (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) was previously placed in the genus Gallirallus.

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. 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.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	D	D1+2; E

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Endangered	D
2016	Endangered	D
2013	Endangered	D
2012	Endangered	D
2008	Endangered	D1
2006	Endangered
2004	Endangered
2000	Endangered
1996	Endangered
1994	Endangered
1988	Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	6 km2	medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	2 km2	good
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	200-286, 230 mature individuals	good	estimated	2020
Population trend	increasing	good	estimated	-
Generation length	4.94 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification:

In the 2016 island-wide survey, 250 Lord Howe Woodhens were recorded, and the population was estimated to be 286 (Lord Howe Island Board 2016). These totals, which include juveniles, exceed the estimated carrying capacity of the island of 220 individuals (Brook et al. 1997), probably because some birds are fed by residents and many benefit from access to artificial habitats like the golf course and waste management facility; there were actually fewer at Grey Face, Boat Harbour and Far Flats than in the 1990s (Lord Howe Island Board 2016). More recent population estimates are slightly lower than in 2016: the November 2018 survey recorded 212 individuals (Portelli and Carlile 2019), with an estimated total population of 245 individuals (Major et al. 2021); in 2019, 219 adults and juveniles were temporarily held in captivity to avoid primary poisoning during the Rodent Eradication Program (Lord Howe Island Board unpublished) with at least 10 remaining at large (N. Carlile unpublished). There were fewer than ten pairs of Lord Howe Woodhens in the 1970s and the entire population is derived from a single pair in the lowlands, up to five pairs in the southern mountains and three pairs on the southern slopes (Miller and Mullette 1985, Major et al. 2021).

Trend justification: The population was estimated to be stable (NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service 2002) but conservation efforts have resulted in the population experiencing continued growth over at least the last decade (D. Portelli in litt. 2016). Ongoing population monitoring has demonstrated a steady increase of approximately 4.5 birds per year since 2004 (Lord Howe Island Board unpubl. data via D. Portelli in litt. 2016).

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Lord Howe Island Permanent Park Preserve (Lord Howe Island IBA)

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 875 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Species mortality
Climate change & severe weather	Storms & flooding	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Canis familiaris	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Capra hircus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Species disturbance
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Sus domesticus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Species disturbance, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Tyto novaehollandiae	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Hypotaenidia philippensis	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		No decline		Unknown
		Stresses Competition

Purpose	Scale
Food - human

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Lord Howe Woodhen Hypotaenidia sylvestris. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/lord-howe-woodhen-hypotaenidia-sylvestris 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.