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

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)
2012	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2010	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2008	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1994	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1988	Near Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	47,900 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2500-9999 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2023
Population trend	decreasing	poor	inferred	2017-2032
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Generation length	5.25 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: Undoubtedly scarce. Both Buchanan et al. (2008) and Davis et al. (2017) 'estimated' the global population size to lie in the band 2,500-10,000 mature individuals, although without clear elucidation, whereas Ferguson-Lees and Christie (2001) thought the population to be only in the high hundreds. A coarse GIS exercise suggests that the area of available habitat is no more than c.8,300 km². Accurate density estimates for Accipiter hawks are few, however no forest species is known to exceed 1/km² (see Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001), thus the estimate of 2,500-10,000 mature individuals is accepted here on the basis that it is highly unlikely to exceed it. Future survey effort should aim to elucidate its true density, however, as it may number considerably fewer.

Trend justification: This species is highly dependent on old-growth forest and occurs at significantly lower densities in degraded forests (Buchanan et al. 2008, Davis et al. 2017, G. Dutson in litt. 2024). Forest loss is ongoing, with remote sensing data relatively insensitive to additional impacts of habitat degradation. As such, a continuing decline can be inferred. Buchanan et al. (2008) calculated the rate of forest loss within the species' range on New Britain as 9.5% over three generations, using a longer three-generation time span of 28.5 years (vs 15.75 years; Bird et al. 2020). Using a recalculation of the generation length (5.25 years; Bird et al. 2020), remote sensing data indicate that forest cover extent in this species' range reduced by c.3% overall in the three generations to 2022 (Global Forest Watch 2023, based on data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein), and increased rates of loss between 2018-2022 suggest forest loss is currently ongoing at a rate equivalent to 5-6% over three generations. Tentatively, declines are placed in the range 1-9% in three generations and are suspected to continue at the same rate in the future.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Papua New Guinea	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	major	resident
Altitude	750 - 1400 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	0 - 1600 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: New Britain Goshawk Accipiter princeps. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/new-britain-goshawk-accipiter-princeps on 30/12/2024.
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 30/12/2024.