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

Taxonomic note

Prioniturus discurus and P. mindorensis (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously lumped as P. discurus following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

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.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	C2a(ii)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2016	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2014	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	12,100 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	8000-25000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2023
Population trend	decreasing	-	inferred	2016-2029
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	5-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	5-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	5-19%	-	-	-
Generation length	4.3 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: Most recently described as uncommon (Allen 2020), but Dutson et al. (1992) considered it 'common and conspicuous' during fieldwork in 1991.
Based on 584 point counts, Lee and Marsden (2008) calculated an average density of 88 birds/km² (SE ± 20.8; detected in 77 points) in lowland forest, but based on citizen science data, where observations typically comprise 2-10 individuals (eBird 2024), this is suspected of being a (perhaps considerable) overestimate. Satellite data suggest a total of no more than c.800 km² of remaining suitable habitat (data from Jung et al. [2020], analysed using sRedList [2023]), although some of this is degraded and at elevations marginal for this species. Moreover, not all birds counted are likely to have been mature individuals, especially given Lee and Marsden (2008) targeted their surveys to the breeding season. The global population size is therefore placed in a broad band of 8,000-24,000 mature individuals, with the minimum assuming a much-reduced estimate of 10 mature individuals/km², with an arbitrary maximum value three times this.

Trend justification: Trend not well understood. During intensive fieldwork in 1991, Dutson et al. (1992) found this species to be 'common and conspicuous'. A little less than three decades later, Allen (2020) regarded it as uncommon. Whether this reflects a true reduction in abundance is difficult to determine, but it is now recorded in only c.70% of eBird checklists where it might reasonably be expected (eBird 2024). The main possible threats to this species are habitat loss and trapping. While historically rates of lowland forest cover loss were very high on Mindoro (BirdLife International 2001), recent rates have been much slower, and over the past three generations (13 years: 2010-2023) forest cover in this species' range was reduced by 5-7% (Global Forest Watch 2024, based on data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods therein). Given this species' need for hollows to nest in, additional pressure of selective logging may have had a compounding impact, and only small areas of Mindoro's lowland forests have high intactness (Grantham et al. 2020). The threat of trapping is more abstract and difficult to quantify, but there is currently no evidence that this species is trapped at a scale or acuity capable of driving declines more than marginal. Accordingly, this species is suspected of declining at an ongoing rate of 5-19% over three generations.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 1000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(max) 1670 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Mindoro Racquet-tail Prioniturus mindorensis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/mindoro-racquet-tail-prioniturus-mindorensis on 27/12/2024.
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 27/12/2024.