Current view: Data table and detailed info
Taxonomic note
Cacomantis aeruginosus (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) was previously listed as C. heinrichi; the name aeruginosus has priority.
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: Due to the apparent rarity of C. aeruginosus heinrichi on Halmahera and Bacan, when considered separately this subspecies was placed in the band 6,000-15,000 mature individuals. The species as now defined contains additional subpopulations on Obi, Buru and Seram where the species has been encountered in a wider range of habitats and across a greater elevational range (Thibault et al. 2013, Mittermeier et al. 2013). On Obi was it was described as reasonably common and tolerant of moderate habitat disturbance (Mittermeier et al. 2013) while on Seram it was uncommon to fairly common with around 2 birds per day encountered in montane primary forest (A. Reeve in litt. 2016). Despite the fact that the overall population size has not been quantified the species is therefore not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion.
Trend justification: The population is inferred to be undergoing a continued decline owing to forest clearance and degradation. Vetter (2009) used remote sensing techniques to track the rate and spatial pattern of forest loss in the North Maluku Endemic Bird Area (EBA) between 1990 and 2003, and project rates of deforestation over the next three generations for restricted range bird species found in this region, with consequent recommendations for category changes on the IUCN Red List. This study estimated the rate of forest loss within the elevation range of Moluccan Cuckoo in the EBA to be c.5.7% between 1990 and 2003, and projected the loss of c.6% of forest in its range in the EBA over the next three generations (estimated to be 12.6 years, based on an estimated generation length of c.4.2 years). The species, however, appears to show greater tolerance for degraded habitat away from the North Maluku EBA and there is uncertainty over deforestation rates in parts of the species's range not covered by Vetter's (2009) study, such as Buru and Seram. Given this uncertainty, it is suspected that the species has been declining at a rate between 5-10% over the past 12 years. It is suspected that this decline is ongoing based on the assumption that degradation and loss of forested habitat throughout the range of the species continues.
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Moluccan Cuckoo Cacomantis aeruginosus. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/moluccan-cuckoo-cacomantis-aeruginosus on 22/12/2024.
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 22/12/2024.