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

Taxonomic note
Alopecoenas sanctaecrucis (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) was previously placed in the genus Gallicolumba.

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
-	D	B1ab(ii,iii,v)+2ab(ii,iii,v); D1

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2018	Endangered	D
2016	Endangered	B1ab(ii,iii,v)
2013	Endangered	B1ab(ii,iii,v)
2012	Endangered	B1ab(ii,iii,v)
2008	Endangered	B1a+b(ii,iii,v)
2004	Endangered
2000	Endangered
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	17,200 km2	medium
Number of locations	2	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	218-1070 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2018
Population trend	decreasing	poor	inferred	1998-2008
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	10-19%	-	-	-
Generation length	6.6 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2	-	-	-

Population justification:

The population size has previously been listed as 600-1,700 mature individuals. It is probably now much smaller as a result of the losses from Tinakula, and given that it was only a rough estimate, the population size may have been smaller than this in the first place. As the species is only very rarely recorded on Espiritu Santo, the population size there could be very small. Using the lowest population densities of former congeners (genus Gallicolumba) and assuming only a proportion of its range in Espiritu Santo is occupied would give a population size there in the range 210-1,055 mature individuals.

The recent survey on Tinakula found 15 individuals – 11 males and 4 females, although it is not certain whether these were all mature individuals (although Baptista et al. [2018] describe a different plumage colouration in juveniles, so it is possible that all counted individuals may be mature), and it is not known whether this is the total population on the island, or whether there may be some other individuals present still. The skew in the sex ratio of individuals found means that a lower population size should be used (per IUCN Standards and Petitions Subcommittee 2017), but again it is unknown whether it is possible for all individuals in this very small population to successfully breed. Given the uncertainty, it is very tentatively suggested that the population size for Tinakula be assessed as 8-15 mature individuals. This would then give an overall global population in the range 218-1,070 mature individuals, equating roughly to 300-1,600 individuals in total.

Trend justification: While the eruption of the volcano on Tinakula in 2017 has caused a large one-off population reduction, any remaining population on Espiritu Santo is also likely to be undergoing a continuing decline due to the ongoing threats of introduced mammals and habitat loss.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Vanuatu	Santo Mountain Chain

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Altitude	60 - 1000 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
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		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
Geological events	Volcanoes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Canis familiaris	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Merremia peltata	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Named species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Sus domesticus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Santa Cruz Ground Dove Pampusana sanctaecrucis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/santa-cruz-ground-dove-pampusana-sanctaecrucis 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.