Conservation

Conservation status – The IUCN Red List (2011, version 3.1), ranks the conservation status of Pearly-eyed Thrasher as of "Least Concern", owing to its ample geographic and ecological distribution (BirdLife International 2009).

While the species per se may be of least concern range wide, its population dynamics can be extremely fluid. Local and even entire island populations have been extirpated (e.g., Jamaica, St. Vincent, and Barbados) and local reductions in population size have been documented, e.g., within the palo colorado forest type, the pearly-eye’s prime habitat within the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Therefore, the species should be constantly monitored, especially on small islands and within habitats vulnerable to degradation or development (Arendt 2006a: Chapter 4, pages 63–106).

Humans have in the past, and continue to, enhance Pearly-eyed Thrasher populations through the building of structures and the planting of agricultural crops and fruit trees that can be used as nesting sites and food sources. Alternatively, humans can impact thrasher numbers via direct or indirect control measures, which have historically included the poisoning and destruction of offensive individuals, e.g., food-robbing and predatory thrashers (Snyder et al. 1987) or indirect methods such as the removal of nesting, food, and roosting sites (Young 2008).

Should the pearly-eye ever secure a foothold on either nearby continent, its large size, combative nature, and predatory habits would certainly enhance its chances of successful colonization and rapid range expansion, especially in species-impoverished environments resulting from today’s burgeoning human populations (but see Demography and Populations).