New Britain Sparrowhawk Accipiter brachyurus
Vulnerable
Location: Papua New Guinea
The New Britain Sparrowhawk is a very poorly-known forest species. Although there are some lowland records (Coates 1985, K. D. Bishop in litt. 1987, I. Burrows in litt. 1994, J. Diamond in litt.1999), most records are from montane forest to 1,800 m (Buchanan et al. 2008, Dutson 2011), including records at 1,200-1,800 m on New Ireland (B. Beehler in litt. 1997, Coates 1985, G. Dutson pers. obs. 1997-1998, Beehler and Alonso 2001, Dutson 2011). Populations are threatened by the extensive logging of lowland and hill forests throughout their range. New Britain alone accounted for approximately half of Papua New Guinea’s timber exports (Buchanan et al. 2008).
Lowland forest clearance for conversion to oil palm plantations has been intense in recent decades in both New Britain and New Ireland (Swartzendruber 1993, Stattersfield et al. 1998, Buchanan et al. 2008). On New Britain about 17.5% of habitat within this species’ altitudinal range was cleared in three generations or 15 years (Buchanan et al. 2008).
IUCN Red List
Less detailed analysis is available for later years but about 2.2% of forest was lost plus 5.2% degraded across New Britain between 2002 and 2014 (Bryan and Shearman 2015). It is inferred that forest loss and degradation has slowed but the species’ rate of decline is precautionary retained at the rate measured by Buchanan et al. (2008) pending better data. Despite relatively limited survey effort in the region, this remains a notably rare species.
The New Britain Sparrowhawk is a regal bird of prey in #PapuaNewGuinea vulnerable on @IUCNredlist by #palmoil #deforestation conversion to #palmoil plantations. No known conservation is in place. Make art about them and #Boycott4Wildlife
Tweet
Further Information
BirdLife International. 2018. Accipiter brachyurus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22695605A131936960. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22695605A131936960.en. Downloaded on 03 February 2021.

Support the conservation of this species

How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Contribute in five ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here