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

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
2020	Near Threatened	B1ab(ii,iii,v)+2ab(ii,iii,v); C2a(ii)
2016	Data Deficient
2012	Data Deficient
2008	Data Deficient
2004	Data Deficient
2000	Data Deficient
1996	Data Deficient
1994	Data Deficient
1988	Near Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	2,000 km2	medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	500 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	11500 - 23200 mature individuals	good	estimated	2016
Population trend	decreasing	good	inferred	2019-2034
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-5%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-15%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-15%	-	-	-
Generation length	5 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-4	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	86-93%	-	-	-

Population justification: The species is relatively common in suitable habitats across all four islands (Goulding et al. 2019a). Pre-dawn singing males surveyed during the breeding season in 2012-16 occurred at densities of about 0.53 mature individuals/ha on Sabara Island (Goulding et al. 2019a). The species is more patchily distributed on Panawina (0.15/ha), Junet (0.23/ha) and Tagula (0.14-0.30/ha) where it appears to be at lower densities in suitable habitat and absent from some areas of suitable habitat. Conservative extrapolation using forest cover greater than 80% (79,200 ha; Hansen et al. 2013), combined with the observed densities, suggests that the global population of mature individuals is 11,500 - 23,200, although it was noted that this may be a slight overestimate (Goulding et al. 2019a).

The island with the largest population is Tagula, which was estimated to have a population of 10,000–21,500 mature individuals (Goulding et al. 2019a). The species has been observed crossing water barriers of at least 500m, so it is suspected to have a high dispersal ability (Goulding et al. 2019a). However, vocal differences between individuals from Sabara and other islands suggest distinct subpopulations.

Trend justification: Over three generations from 2004-2019, approximately 2.8% of tree cover with 75% canopy cover was lost from within the species's range (Global Forest Watch 2020). Although this loss was small, the species prefers intact forest and is therefore inferred to be undergoing a slow continuing decline. Based on this information, the species is suspected to have undergone a population reduction of 1-5% over the past three generations (15 years). In 2019, there were plans for a large logging operation on Tagula, which could affect up to 10% of the species's range. The population is therefore suspected to undergo a reduction of 1-15% over the next three generations.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 500 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	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Storms & flooding	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Whole (>90%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic species/disease of unknown origin - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 3
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Tagula Butcherbird Cracticus louisiadensis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/tagula-butcherbird-cracticus-louisiadensis on 23/11/2024.
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 23/11/2024.