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

Taxonomic source(s)
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
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
-	-	D1

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Near Threatened	D1
2016	Near Threatened	C2a(ii)
2012	Near Threatened	C2a(ii)
2008	Near Threatened	C2a(ii)
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Threatened

Migratory status	nomadic	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type	Australia	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	1,995,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	900-10000 mature individuals	poor	suspected	2020
Population trend	stable	medium	inferred	1998-2008
Generation length	5.79 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: There have been three reports of large concentrations of Princess Parrots in the last fifty years: up to 300 on Canning Stock Route in the early 1990s (Carter 1993), a maximum of 172 at the best-known breeding event, during 2010 on the eastern edge of their range, a region which was also occupied in 1894 (Pavey et al. 2014), and a flock of at least 110 at Newhaven Reserve in winter 2012 (C. Pavey unpublished). In the last decade, however, there have been sightings over a large range in the Great Victoria, Little Sandy and Gibson Deserts both before and during the most recent documented breeding event suggesting a population at least ten times that number, so the maximum population size is suspected to be c.10,000 mature individuals but this requires confirmation. The population is thought to vary substantially in response to conditions, and is suspected to number fewer than 1,000 when at minimum (Pavey et al. 2021).

Trend justification: Earlier suggestions that the species is declining (Reid and Fleming 1992) were made before the 2010 breeding event in central Australia and the extreme variability in records across the range confounds any change in distribution. As a result the population is thought to be stable.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Desert	Hot	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 800 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Climate change & severe weather	Temperature extremes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Camelus dromedarius	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Competition, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Oryctolagus cuniculus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Competition
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Ovis aries	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Competition
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Vulpes vulpes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Increase in fire frequency/intensity	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation
Natural system modifications	Other ecosystem modifications	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Princess Parrot Polytelis alexandrae. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/princess-parrot-polytelis-alexandrae on 25/12/2024.
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 25/12/2024.