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

Taxonomic note

Erythrura cyaneovirens (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) was previously split as E. cyaneovirens and E. regia following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Near Threatened	C2a(i)
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	900,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	7000-19999 mature individuals	poor	suspected	2024
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	2.49 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	8-20	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: This species is described as uncommon and very patchily distributed (Watling 2001, Dutson 2011, O'Brien and Masibalavu 2017), though locally fairly abundant (Morley 2018). In Vanuatu, Tongoa and Emae are thought to be strongholds for the species (Parr 2007). Elsewhere in Vanuatu it appears to be uncommon or rare however and may number only a few thousand in the country overall (G. Dutson in litt. 2024). Based on point count data from 2016, the Samoan population was estimated to number 3,660-5,500 individuals (O'Brien and Masibalavu 2017), suggesting the largest subpopulation exceeds 1,000 mature individuals if it is assumed that each island population corresponds to a distinct subpopulation. The global population has not been directly quantified, though given a large proportion of its range lies outside of Samoa it may exceed 10,000 mature individuals. Considering this species’ apparent rarity and that much of its range is poorly studied, it is here tentatively suspected to fall within the band 7,000-19,999 mature individuals. An accurate quantification is urgently required.

Trend justification: In Vanuatu there have been no recent records from several islands where the species was recorded in the past suggesting it has become locally extinct or very scarce, perhaps owing to extensive logging and forest clearance (Bregulla 1992, Birchenough 2003, Dutson 2011). The current population trend has not been quantified directly, though the species may be affected by ongoing habitat loss in part of its range. Remote sensing data are not available to estimate the rate of tree cover loss within Samoa, though forest loss across the species' range in Vanuatu remains low, equivalent to c.2% in ten years (Global Forest Watch 2024, using data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein). Although this does not account for additional impacts of degradation, this species occurs in secondary forest and open habitat and is considered to have a low forest dependency overall (Watling 2001, Dutson 2011, O'Brien and Masibalavu 2017). Opportunistic slingshot hunting of parrotfinches for food has been reported locally (Pratt and Mittermeier 2016, Morley 2018). It is also reportedly captured illegally for the caged bird trade, though numbers are likely small (Birchenough 2003, Golden 2014, Morley 2018). Precautionarily, the species is suspected to be declining slowly.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Samoa	Aleipata Marine Protected Area
Samoa	Apia Catchments
Samoa	Central Savaii Rainforest
Samoa	Eastern Upolu Craters
Samoa	O Le Pupu-Pu'e National Park
Samoa	Uafato-Tiavea Forest
Vanuatu	Gaua
Vanuatu	Tongoa - Laika

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 1800 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Shifting agriculture	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
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
Climate change & severe weather	Storms & flooding	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence
Pets/display animals, horticulture	national, international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Red-headed Parrotfinch Erythrura cyaneovirens. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/red-headed-parrotfinch-erythrura-cyaneovirens on 24/12/2024.
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 24/12/2024.