Victoria's Riflebird (Lophorina victoriae) | Details

Victoria's Riflebird Lophorina victoriae

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic note

Lophorina victoriae (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) was previously listed as Ptiloris victoriae.

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

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	A2bc+3c+4bc

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Vulnerable	A2bc+3c+4bc
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

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

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	32,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	210000-520000, 360000 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2020
Population trend	decreasing	-	estimated	2008-2022
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-40%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-40%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-40%	-	-	-
Generation length	4.7 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	3-5	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The abundance of Victoria's Riflebirds is calculated from the density and distribution of birds using data from standardised transect surveys along elevational gradients and the area of climatically suitable habitat at different altitudes in 2016 (Williams et al. 2010a; 2021).

Trend justification: There appears to have been a substantial decline in population size in the last three generations, as predicted by climate change modelling (Williams et al. 2003). Annual monitoring undertaken 2000–2016 (1,970 plots, 62 different locations, 0–1,500 m) revealed a highly significant decline of 34.9% in the total population over the three generations to 2016 from an estimated 560,000 to 360,000 individuals. Declines occurred at lower, mid- and higher altitudes (Williams & de la Fuente 2021) and given the predicted 'escalator to extinction' effect, this rate is thought to be ongoing.

Country/territory distribution

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

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Coastal Wet Tropics
Australia	Daintree
Australia	Paluma
Australia	Wooroonooran

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Swamp	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 1500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	200 - 1000 m

Threats & impact

Threat (level 1)

Threat (level 2)

Impact and Stresses

Climate change & severe weather

Habitat shifting & alteration

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Whole (>90%)

Rapid Declines

High Impact: 8

Stresses
Ecosystem degradation