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

Taxonomic note
Until recently treated as a lowland subspecies of A. insignis, but studies suggest that it should be afforded specific rank (Dumbacher et al. 2003, Pratt 2000). Monotypic.

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2023. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 8. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v8_Dec23.zip.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2023	Least Concern
2017	Data Deficient
2016	Data Deficient
2012	Data Deficient
2008	Data Deficient
2004	Data Deficient
2000	Data Deficient
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	53,600 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	5.4 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-50	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified. The species is described as possibly fairly common, although little known (Cleere 1998), and eBird (2022) data suggest it is regularly seen, although in many instances this may refer to the same individuals. Similarly, Verbelen (2014) suggested it may be locally common. Conversely, Pratt and Beehler (2015) and Gregory (2017) described it as rare. Even if the species were to prove range-restricted or patchily distributed, the geographic spread of sites from which it is already known suggest that there is a large amount of suitable habitat in its range (G. Dutson pers. comm. 2023). Consequently the population size is unlikely to be especially small.

Trend justification: The population trend of this species has not been accurately evaluated. The only likely threat to it is habitat loss which is ongoing in New Guinea's lowlands, albeit at currently a slow rate (per Global Forest Watch 2022). The forest around Kiunga, where most observations are made, is intact with few signs of degradation; however, in neighbouring Indonesia, forest between the Fly and Digul rivers shows localised signs of novel logging tracks and ongoing degradation (Google Earth 2022). As a highly forest-dependent species (Beehler and Pratt 2016), this is likely to be having a negative impact on the species, although it is unlikely to be causing rapid declines (even acknowledging that the limits of the species' range are improperly known).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Indonesia	extant	native	yes
Papua New Guinea	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Altitude	10 - 125 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
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

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Starry Owlet-nightjar Aegotheles tatei. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/starry-owlet-nightjar-aegotheles-tatei 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.