Current view: Data table and detailed info
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.
IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Red List history
| Migratory status |
not a migrant |
Forest dependency |
high |
| Land-mass type |
shelf island
|
Average mass |
185 g |
Population justification: The species can be easily overlooked, and a study on Masoala Peninsula estimated a density of 4 territories per km2, which would equate to a maximum of approximately 8,800 pairs in the peninsula alone (Thorstrom and Lind 1999). Knowing this, but considering the species' high specialisation in undisturbed damp forest, and continuing habitat loss, deterioration and fragmentation, and the detrimental effect of the latter on the occurrence of the species (Benjara et al. 2021), a conservative measure of 10-25% occupancy of the range (approximately 48,900 km2) at a precautionary 1 territory per km2, can be assumed. This results in a total estimate of 4,900-12,200 pairs, or approximately 9,800-24,500 mature individuals, and the species' population size is therefore placed in a rounded band of 10,000-25,000 mature individuals.
Trend justification: The species is highly dependent on primary, undisturbed forest, and is considered absent from degraded forest, and forest with a majority of secondary growth (Woog et al. 2006, Langrand and Kirwan 2020). Studies have found that it does not occur in habitats that have been sufficiently degraded, does not occur in patches within the forest that have been cleared for small-scale agriculture (Woog et al. 2006, Rocha et al. 2015), and does not occur in medium to small forest fragments (Rakotoarisoa and Capparella 2013).
Loss of tree cover within the species' range (Global Forest Watch 2022, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein) over the past three generations, due primarily to clearance for subsistence cultivation, human pressure and commercial logging (Jenkins 1987, Stattersfield et al. 1998, ZICOMA 1999), has been estimated at approximately 25%, and suspected to accelerate to a rate of approximately 31% between 2016 and 2031. Based on a rate of decline of approximately 2% over the past five years, and the continuing threats to this habitat, it is therefore suspected that the loss of forest habitat within the species' range will continue at a rate of approximately 31% over the next three generations.
Considering the species' high dependence on forest habitats, and sensitivity to its degradation and reduction in size, combined with the ongoing forest loss within its range, the current population size is therefore inferred to be undergoing a continuing declining due to the loss of suitable key habitats and increase in forest edge. It is suspected that the species' rate of decline in population size is in line with the rate of forest loss.
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Short-legged Ground-roller Brachypteracias leptosomus. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/short-legged-ground-roller-brachypteracias-leptosomus 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.
