Conservation and Management

The two subspecies groups have recently been treated as different species by BirdLife International (17 del Hoyo, J., and N. J. Collar (2016). HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ), and therefore have been assessed separately against IUCN Red List criteria. Both are confined to different parts of the Central Papuan Mountains Endemic Bird Area (46 Stattersfield, A. J., M. J. Crosby, A. J. Long, and D. C. Wege, Editors (1998). Endemic Bird Areas of the World: Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation. BirdLife Conservation Series 7. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Close ) and are listed as Least Concern in recognition of the fact that forest loss in both taxa’s ranges is minimal and, given their remoteness, unlikely to be threatened in the immediate future. Secretive habits limit any meaningful assessment of this species’ abundance, but no immediate or long-term global threats are apparent. It occurs patchily, in part as a result of the species’ restricted elevational range. However, especially where mist-netting studies have been conducted, this species has proven to be locally common; Gilliard (26 Gilliard, E. T. (1969). Birds of Paradise and Bower Birds. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, UK. Close ), for example, collected 20 birds on Mt. Hagen between 2,400 and 3,600 m. Unlike some species of birds-of-paradise, hunting for this species’ plumes does not appear to be even a local threat, although Gilliard (26 Gilliard, E. T. (1969). Birds of Paradise and Bower Birds. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, UK. Close ) found one being worn as a head-dress near Goroka. Listed under CITES II.