Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species is listed as Endangered because it is estimated to have a small global population numbering (perhaps much) fewer than 2,500 mature individuals perhaps confined to a relatively small area of Seram (to which it is endemic). The population is inferred to be declining due to ongoing pressure from the pet trade, as well as compounding impacts of forest loss and degradation.
Population justification
Evidently always rather scarce (or heavily traded/exploited for such a long time that even the earliest ornithological explorations found it to be a rare species); Stresemann (1914) found it to be nowhere common, and it is striking that on his visit to the island in 1859, A. R. Wallace never obtained a specimen (Wallace 1861). Fieldwork in south-west Seram in September 1983 failed to find it (Bishop 1992) and in 1987 in Manusela National Park it was encountered at a rate of only 0.7 birds per hour (Bowler and Taylor 1989). It was later found to be locally common however, especially on higher/less accessible ridges most remote from hunters (Isherwood et al. 1997, Willis 1997) but in the last 30 years a proliferation of roads and hunting tracks have made very few areas of central Seram's forest truly remote (but see below). Expert opinion is consistent in believing this species' global population size to be very small: BirdLife International (2001) considered the population to be <2,500 mature individuals more than two decades ago based on a consolidation of available records and survey effort, while surveys in 2020 led Nandika et al. (2021) to conclude that the population 'might be below 250'. The latter authors found a density of 2.3 individuals/km2 in Manusela NP however, which maintains c. 900km2 of suitable habitat within this species' elevational range, such that even if only a small proportion of the national park is occupied, it seems likely that the national park alone continues to support more than 250 mature individuals (and probably >500). Recent records away from those published by Nandika et al. (2021) are very few, and most observations are made in Manusela National Park, where it continues to be observed regularly, but in small numbers, by visiting birdwatchers (eBird 2024). Numbers outside the national park may now be very small to negligible, a suggestion that finds some support in the data of Persulessy and Putuhena (2020) who, in surveys of seven localities within a production forest adjacent to Manusela NP, found only three L. domicella at a single site in 2015-2018. These localities, however, were very close to human habitation, and there remains extensive areas of suitable habitat in western Seram, which has not been surveyed in recent years. A highly precautionary approach would be to assume the species has been effectively extirpated from areas not under formal protection, in which case there may be as few as c. 500 mature individuals. Alternatively, the species may maintain strongholds in remoter areas of the island, and the population size could be an order of magnitude greater. Accordingly the species' population size is estimated to number 500-5,000 mature individuals, but more surveys are needed in areas of Seram away from Manusela National Park.
Trend justification
Inferred from a high intensity of trapping for the pet trade, which is known to have extirpated this species from where it was once found (R. Hutchinson in litt. 2012), and is thought responsible for the low densities reported in recent studies (BirdLife International 2001, Persulessy and Putuhena 2020, Nandika et al. 2021). Habitat loss and degradation is likely to have additive impacts on this forest-dependent species, particularly at its lowest elevational limits.
It is likely this species has been traded for many decades given its apparent scarcity even during historical explorations (see Population Size justification). However, the species looks to be getting rarer still, with very few seen in recent surveys (BirdLife International 2001, Persulessy and Putuhena 2020, Nandika et al. 2021) and the continuing expansion of the island's track and trail network gives hunters access to a greater proportion of Seram's forests than ever before (Grantham et al. 2020, Google Earth 2024). The species continues to be found in trade (Maulany et al. 2021, Nandika et al. 2021) and while there is no direct quantification on the impact of this in the wild, expert opinion maintains that the species continues to decline (e.g. Nandika et al. 2021). Moreover, while not the primary threat, habitat loss and degradation is likely compounding declines, and in the future this may accelerate. This species' preference for hill forests safeguards it to some extent from the most acute rates of forest loss in Seram's lowlands, however annual rates of loss appear to be accelerating (Global Forest Watch 2024) and Seram's hill forests are considered vulnerable to exploitation in the coming decades (see Voigt et al. 2020). Over the past three generations (26 years: 1998-2023) forest cover in this species' range declined by c. 5%, a figure calculated using data from Global Forest Watch (2024) and Hansen et al. (2013), projecting back for two years (1998-1999) as data are available only from the year 2000. This does not account for additional impacts of degradation however, including selective logging removing hollow-bearing trees on which L. domicella is dependent on for nesting.
Consolidating threats into likely rates of decline, however, is challenging due to uncertainty over trapping extent and acuity. Accordingly, rates of decline are not estimated, but over the past three generations may well have been rapid. Future trends are even harder to determine, but rapid declines are also possible unless threats are appropriately and immediately ameliorated.
Lorius domicella is endemic to Seram, Indonesia. Escapes are sometimes seen on Ambon, and the status of records from Haruku and Sparua are unknown, but probably refer to escapes. It appears always to have been uncommon or rare, recent records deriving only from within Manusela National Park in central Seram.
It inhabits hill and submontane rainforest, sometimes preferring ridges, within a fairly restricted altitudinal range (between 300 and 1,300 m, but only common between 600 and 1,000 m). It lives in pairs or scattered flocks and is thought to be largely sedentary.
The main threat to this species is capture for the pet trade. Reportedly kept in villages and towns in large numbers on Seram itself and there is evidence from confiscations that it is exported nationally to other islands in Indonesia (e.g. Maulany et al. 2021, Nandika et al. 2021). Habitat loss and degradation are also key threats, driven principally by timber extraction and shifting agriculture/plantations. Annual rates of loss appear to be accelerating (Global Forest Watch 2024) and Seram's hill forests are considered vulnerable to exploitation in the coming decades (see Voigt et al. 2020). Over the past three generations (26 years: 1998-2023) forest cover in this species' range declined by c. 5%, a figure calculated using data from Global Forest Watch (2024) and Hansen et al. (2013), projecting back for two years (1998-1999) as data are available only from the year 2000. This does not account for additional impacts of degradation however, including selective logging removing hollow-bearing trees on which L. domicella is dependent on for nesting.
Conservation Actions Underway
Listed in CITES Appendix II and protected under Indonesian law since 1972. It occurs in only one protected area, Manusela National Park, from which most recent records come, although the level of protection is difficult to assess and it is possible, if not likely, that birds continue to be trapped even within it.
28 cm. Spectacular, forest-dwelling parrot. Mainly red, with orange bill. Black cap shading to violet at rear, variable yellow band across upper breast. Purplish blue thighs. Largely green wings. Red, broad and rounded tail, tipped brownish-red.
Text account compilers
Berryman, A.
Contributors
Metz, S., Hutchinson, R. & Hornbuckle, J.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Purple-naped Lory Lorius domicella. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/purple-naped-lory-lorius-domicella on 23/12/2024.
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 23/12/2024.