Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This little-known species occurs on the smaller islands of the Louisiade Archipelago, Papua New Guinea. This species's population, trend and threats are completely unknown. For these reasons, it is classified as Data Deficient.
Population justification
It was commonly encountered in 2014 on Kimuta and at low elevations on Rossel Island (W. Goulding in litt. 2019), but the species's population size remains unknown.
Trend justification
The species's population trend is not known. From 2009 to 2019, approximately 3% of tree cover with at least 30% canopy cover was lost within the species's range (Global Forest Watch 2020). However, the species uses altered habitats so its population may not have been impacted by this loss.
Myzomela albigula is a little-known species from the smaller islands of the Louisiade Archipelago (Alcester, Bonvouloir Islands, Conflict Group, Deboyne Islands, Kimuta, Good, Haszard, Panapompom, Rara, Itamarina and Rossel but not Misima) in Papua New Guinea (Beehler and Pratt 2016).
This species was observed using disturbed habitat, subsistence plantations, forest edges and regrowth near houses on both Kimuta and Rossel Islands (W. Goulding in litt. 2019). It was also seen visiting coconut palm inflorescence on Kimuta in 2014 (W. Goulding in litt. 2019).
Threats to this species remain unknown. A small amount of tree cover has been lost within its range over the past decade (Global Forest Watch 2020), possibly through conversion to subsitence agriculture, but rates of forest loss elsewhere in the Louisiade Archipelago were slow from the 1970s to the 2010s (Goulding et al. 2019), and the species is found in altered habitats (W. Goulding in litt. 2019). Closely-related congenerics are known to be adaptable (Higgins et al. 2020). It is suspected that extreme weather events such as droughts and cyclones may pose a threat for small island populations, and may become more intense due to climate change.
Conservation and Research Actions Underway
None is known.
Text account compilers
Clark, J.
Contributors
Derhé, M., Dutson, G., Goulding, W. & Symes, A.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: White-chinned Myzomela Myzomela albigula. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/white-chinned-myzomela-myzomela-albigula 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.