Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species is known from only a handful of specimens and may be unidentifiable in the field. Although previously reported to be locally common, there are no recent records and there is little known of its likely distribution extent, population size, trends and threats. Data are therefore inadequate to determine a threat category, with plausible categories ranging from CR to LC. It is therefore classified as Data Deficient.
Population justification
This species is very poorly known and the global population size has not been quantified. There are no recent records with the species most recently recorded in 2005, and credibility of sight records is an issue due to the difficulty of identifying this species in the field (Beehler and Pratt 2016, Tarburton 2018, Rutt et al. in prep.). It has been described as widespread and rare, though locally common (for example on the Idenburg River, where flocks of up to 30 birds were recorded in the 1940s) (Rand 1941, del Hoyo et al. 1999, Beehler and Pratt 2016).
Trend justification
The population trend is unknown.
This species' range is poorly known. It is known from a handful of specimens from New Guinea (Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea). Specimens are known from the Idenburg River (where flocks of up to 30 birds were recorded), northern Snow Mountains, around Jayapura and one taken in 1993 from a cave in the Hindenburg Range. There are unconfirmed sight records across northern Papua New Guinea to the Huon Peninsula but this species may be unidentifiable in the field (Coates 1985, Beehler et al. 1986, Rowland 1994).
Its ecological requirements are poorly known. It is mostly known from upland New Guinea, though has been recorded from sea-level to 2,400 m (Beehler and Pratt 2016). Feeding parties of 20-30 individuals were recorded in the early 1940s both high in the air and feeding low over marshes and lagoons (Pratt and Beehler 2015, Beehler and Pratt 2016).
The population, status and threats to this species cannot be assessed on present knowledge.
Conservation Actions Underway
None is known.
Text account compilers
Vine, J.
Contributors
Derhé, M., Dutson, G., North, A. & Symes, A.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Papuan Swiftlet Aerodramus papuensis. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/papuan-swiftlet-aerodramus-papuensis 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.