The New Britain sparrowhawk (''Tachyspiza brachyura'') is a

threatened species A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

bird of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to two

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

islands,

New Britain New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...

and New Ireland. Even in 1934

Ernst Mayr Ernst Walter Mayr ( ; ; 5 July 1904 – 3 February 2005) was a German-American evolutionary biologist. He was also a renowned Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, Philosophy of biology, philosopher of biology, and ...

, in his survey of mountain bird life during the Whitney South Sea Expedition, found the New Britain sparrowhawk to be very rare. This species was formerly placed in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Accipiter ''Accipiter'' () is a genus of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae. Some species are called sparrowhawks, but there are many sparrowhawks in other genera such as '' Tachyspiza''. These birds are slender with short, broad, rounded wings and ...

''.

Description

These sparrowhawks are grey with a white underbelly and orange accents on the neck. They are often characterized by their large feet. They are the only hawk in New Britain or the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

that has a middle toe that is longer than the rest. The feet of the New Britain sparrowhawks are pale yellow. These small birds only grow to be 27–34 cm long.

Ecology

This species lives in tropical to subtropical, moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

. The altitudes reach 1,200 to 1,800 m. New Britain sparrowhawks nest like other birds, where they raise their young. Very little is known about this species because it is so rare and the areas in which it lives have not been thoroughly studied.IUCN
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Conservation

it is estimated that the population is only between 1,000 and 2,499 individuals. The main threat to the continued existence of this species is

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

which has led to the birds' decline in lowland forests. The clearing of forest on the small islands leaves the species with less habitat, and a far less safe environment – leading to their vulnerability. No conservation measures are known to have been taken; however it has been proposed that surveys be made to assess population size and observe nests, as well as to map the remaining forest. There are also plans to lobby for large community-based conservation areas.

References

Birdlife International Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q114008

New Britain sparrowhawk The New Britain sparrowhawk (''Tachyspiza brachyura'') is a threatened species of bird of prey. It is endemic to two Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania th ...

Birds of New Britain

Endemic birds of Papua New Guinea