• 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	A3c+4c; B1b(iii)+2b(iii); C2a(ii)
2016	Data Deficient
2012	Data Deficient
2008	Data Deficient
2004	Data Deficient
2000	Data Deficient
1996	Data Deficient
1994	Data Deficient
1988	Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	1,100 km2	medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	400 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	3700 - 25000, 5000 mature individuals	poor	inferred	2016
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	2019-2029
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)	1-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-29%	-	-	-
Generation length	2.44 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: The species is seldom seen and is apparently uncommon (Pratt and Beehler 2015, Beehler and Pratt 2016). Six to ten individuals were seen in a 6.13 km walk through forest at 120-300 m (W. Goulding in litt. 2016). Assuming that this species could be detected up to about 20-25 m either side, this might equate to very approximately 20-46 individuals per km² (W. Goulding in litt. 2020). The area of the the island is approximately 813 km², but although there have been records from sea level (Mitchell 2017), the species has been mostly recorded in forest above an elevation of 120 m (W. Goulding in litt. 2020), which may give an area of habitat of 279 km² (W. Goulding in litt. 2016). Based on an area of 279 - 813 km² and the population densities above, the population size is estimated to be between 5,580 - 37,398 individuals, which roughly equates to 3,720 - 24,932 mature individuals, here rounded to 3,700 - 25,000. Since there have been few records below 120 m and the area of habitat is estimated to cover only around a third of the area of the island (W. Goulding in litt. 2016), the true value is likely to fall towards the lower end of this range, and is suspected to be around 5,000 (W. Goulding in litt. 2020).

The species has a small range on a single island and there is no indication that there is more than one subpopulation.

Trend justification: There is no population data from which to directly estimate trends. From 2009-2019, approximately 2% of forest with at least 50% canopy cover was lost across Tagula, but the rate of forest loss was lower at higher elevations (Global Forest Watch 2020), so the impact of forest loss on the species's population is expected to have been lower than this. The population size is tentatively suspected to be declining slowly. Over the past ten years, the population size is suspected to have undergone a small reduction of 1-5%.

In 2019, there were plans for commercial logging between Reuwo on the south coast and Rambuso Creek on the north coast (W. Goulding in litt. 2020). Should it go ahead, this could impact up to approximately a third of the species's habitat, but it is unlikely that the species would be completely eliminated from the area of logging. The impacts would be likely to begin within several years, with the full impact occurring ten or more years later (G. Dutson in litt. 2020). Over the next ten years, the population is suspected to undergo a reduction of 1-29%.

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	Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest	marginal	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	marginal	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Altitude	120 - 801 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(min) 0 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Shifting agriculture	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible 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		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Storms & flooding	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Tagula White-eye Zosterops meeki. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/tagula-white-eye-zosterops-meeki 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.