Current view: Data table and detailed info
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.
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 |
|
Average mass |
- |
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 distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
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 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.