Current view: Data table and detailed info
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., 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.
IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Red List history
| Migratory status |
not a migrant |
Forest dependency |
does not normally occur in forest |
| Land-mass type |
|
Average mass |
13 g |
Population justification: The population of each subspecies has been quantified separately. Both were estimated by estimating the area of occupied habitat by three measures: the minimum is the number of 2x2 km squares with records since 1990, the best estimate is double this value to account for unsurveyed area, and the maximum is four times this. Within each square, 4 ha of suitable habitat was assumed. The densities used of the two subspecies is that recorded in 2-ha 20-minute surveys (A. l. castaneiventris 3.36±SD 2.50; A. l. leucopsis 3.42± SD 2.75; Birdata).
The population of A. l. castaneiventris is therefore estimated at 36,000-134,000 mature individuals, with a best estimate of 67,000; A. l. leucopsis was estimated ad 200,000-820,000 with a best estimate of 410,000. Combined, these give an estimated population size of 236,000-954,000 mature individuals, with a best estimate of 477,000 (Ehmke et al. 2021).
Trend justification: Trends in range-wide reporting rates for both subspecies since 2000 have been strongly negative with a high level of significance. For A. l. castaneiventris, reporting rates in 2-ha 20-min counts and 500-m radius area searches from 2000–2020 declined by 86% and 46%, respectively (2000–2009: -35% and -35%; 2010–2019: -49%, +3%). For A. l. leucopsis, the equivalent figures were 64% and 72% from 1999–2000 (2000–2009: -49% and -20%; 2010–2019: -57% and -65%). A. l. leucopsis are one of a suite of taxa often considered to be declining at a local level, including around Adelaide, western New South Wales and northern Victoria (Paton et al. 1994, Reid 1999, Olsen et al. 2005) and they disappeared after the millennium drought in central New South Wales (Ellis and Taylor 2014). There are no comparable regional data for A. l. castaneiventris. However, not all trend data are negative. Reporting rates were stable between the first Australian Bird Atlas (1977–1981) and the second (1998–2001) for the whole species (Barrett et al. 2002). In New South Wales, reporting rates in less wooded bioregions increased between Atlases (Barrett et al. 2007) and there was no significant change in reporting rates from 2-ha 20 min surveys for 1999–2013 for the Arid Zone and Mallee regions (BirdLife Australia 2015) or in surveys during 2000–2015 at over 165 sites in southern New South Wales (Lindenmayer et al. 2018). Reporting rates in the Australian Capital Territory show a four-fold fluctuation, with peaks around 1989 and 2009 and troughs in 2000 and 2017 (Canberra Ornithologists Group 2020). Combining these analyses and evaluating the global trend, Ehmke et al. (2021) concluded that the species has probably declined by 30-49% over the past three generations. The threats enacting to have caused this rate of population reduction aren't well understood and so precautionarily, a similar rate of decline is suspected to occur in the future.
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Southern Whiteface Aphelocephala leucopsis. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/southern-whiteface-aphelocephala-leucopsis on 22/12/2024.
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 22/12/2024.
