Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence under 20,000 km² combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (under 10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be over 10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (over 30% decline over ten years or three generations). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as uncommon (Gibbs et al. 2001). This species is considered to have a high dependency on forest habitat, and tree cover is estimated to have declined by 4.3% within its mapped range over the past three generations (Global Forest Watch 2022, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). It is therefore tentatively suspected that this rate of cover loss may have led to a decline of between 1-19% in the species' population size over the same time frame, with a best estimate of reduction being less than 5%.
Trend justification
.
This species occurs across New Guinea (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea), but may be absent from some large areas such as the Sepik-Ramu and north-eastern regions (Coates 1985, Beehler et al. 1986). Although there are only three published records since 1990 (de Silva Garza 1993), it is frequently seen in suitable lowland forest; for example, several individuals are seen a week at Lakekamu (B. Beehler in litt. 2000). It appears to occur patchily, usually at very low population densities (Coates 1985, I. Burrows in litt. 1994), but at one site population density was estimated to be one bird per 10 ha (Bell 1982).
The species occurs in forest to c.650 m (Beehler et al. 1986, Coates 1985) but is usually found in primary lowland flat forest (K.D. Bishop in litt. 1999).
The species' tolerance of logging is poorly known but it persists in some selectively logged forests (B. Whitney in litt. 2000); however, much of the forest at these altitudes is threatened by logging. It is also under localised threat from children stealing eggs and chicks (A. Mack in litt. 1999).
Text account compilers
Rutherford, C.A.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Thick-billed Ground-pigeon Trugon terrestris. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/thick-billed-ground-pigeon-trugon-terrestris on 27/11/2024.
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 27/11/2024.