Malurus coronatus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Bibliography

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	PASSERIFORMES	MALURIDAE

Scientific Name:

Malurus coronatus

Species Authority:

Gould, 1858

Common Name/s:

English

–

Lilac-crowned Wren, Purple-crowned Fairywren, Purple-crowned Fairy-wren

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Published:

2012

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Butchart, S. & Symes, A.

Contributor/s:

Justification:
This species has a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <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). 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 (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size may be moderately small to large, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

History:

2009	–	Least Concern
2008	–	Least Concern
2004	–	Least Concern

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is endemic to northern Australia. Subspecies coronatus is found along seven river systems in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Its distribution is severely reduced, and it is no longer found on parts of the Pentecost and Fitzroy rivers. Subspecies macgillivrayi is found in eastern Northern Territory and north-west Queensland.
Countries:	Native: Australia
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	The species has a large global population estimated to be 10,000-28,000 individuals (Higgins et al. 2001). Subspecies coronatus numbers c.12,000; subspecies macgillivrayi numbers c.18,000 across 12 subpopulations.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Systems:	Terrestrial; Freshwater

Systems:

Terrestrial; Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Livestock eat and trample the species habitat, seeking access to water. Fires are increasing in frequency since the advent of pastoralism, and have been detrimental in some places. These processes expose soil, leading to erosion and, ultimately, denudation and weed invasion of river banks which are then abandoned by the species. This has been ameliorated along some parts of the Victoria River where several large pastoral stations have excluded stock from riparian areas. The high and increasing densities of weeds along many rivers may eventually have an adverse effect (Garnett and Crowley 2000).

Major Threat(s):

Livestock eat and trample the species habitat, seeking access to water. Fires are increasing in frequency since the advent of pastoralism, and have been detrimental in some places. These processes expose soil, leading to erosion and, ultimately, denudation and weed invasion of river banks which are then abandoned by the species. This has been ameliorated along some parts of the Victoria River where several large pastoral stations have excluded stock from riparian areas. The high and increasing densities of weeds along many rivers may eventually have an adverse effect (Garnett and Crowley 2000).

Bibliography [top]

	del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Christie, D. 2007. Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Garnett, S. T.; Crowley, G. M. 2000. The action plan for Australian birds 2000. Environment Australia, Canberra. Higgins, P. J.; Peter, J. M.; Steele, W. K. 2001. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds: Tyrant-flycatchers to Chats. Oxford University Press, Oxford. IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2012.1). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 19 June 2012).

del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Christie, D. 2007. Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.

Garnett, S. T.; Crowley, G. M. 2000. The action plan for Australian birds 2000. Environment Australia, Canberra.

Higgins, P. J.; Peter, J. M.; Steele, W. K. 2001. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds: Tyrant-flycatchers to Chats. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2012.1). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 19 June 2012).

Citation:	BirdLife International 2012. Malurus coronatus. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 18 June 2013.
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