This species is considered Vulnerable on the basis of a small estimated population which is suspected to be declining rapidly through rampant lowland forest loss, owing primarily to conversion to oil palm. However, basic biological data on the species, and an assessment of its tolerance of logged forest, is urgently needed to further inform this assessment.
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.
Henicopernis infuscata Collar and Andrew (1988)
50 cm. Large, heavily barred, forest raptor. Almost black with conspicuous white bands on flight and tail feathers. Usually seen in flight when long tail and long wings with bulging secondaries and broad wing-tips are distinctive. Similar spp. Pacific Baza Aviceda subcristata is smaller and much paler. Voice Piped series of c.12 accelerating, upslurred notes. Hints Usually seen from vantage points overlooking hill or montane forest.
Related state of the world's birds case studies
Buchanan, G.M., Butchart, S.H.M., Dutson, G., Pilgrim, J.D., Steininger, M.K., Bishop, K.D. and Mayaux, P. 2008. Using remote sensing to inform conservation status assessment: estimates of recent deforestation rates on New Britain and the impacts on endemic birds. Biological Conservation 141(1): 56-66.
Clay, J. 1994. Nakanai '93: an Oxford University Expedition to New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea.
Coates, B. J. 1985. The birds of Papua New Guinea, 1: non-passerines. Dove, Alderley, Australia.
Dutson, G. 2011. Birds of Melanesia: Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Christopher Helm, London.
Hornbuckle, J. 1999. Birding in Melanesia: 3 May - July 1999.
Further web sources of information
Explore HBW Alive for further information on this species
Text account compilers
Derhé, M., Dutson, G., Mahood, S., O'Brien, A., Stattersfield, A.
Beehler, B., Bishop, K., Dutson, G., Finch, D., Gregory, P., Pilgrim, J., Wilkinson, R.
IUCN Red List evaluators
Butchart, S., Symes, A.
BirdLife International (2014) Species factsheet: Henicopernis infuscatus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 21/10/2014. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2014) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 21/10/2014.
This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.
To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife
To contribute to discussions on the evaluation of the IUCN Red List status of Globally Threatened Birds, please visit BirdLife's Globally Threatened Bird Forums.
Additional resources for this species
|Current IUCN Red List category||Vulnerable|
|Family||Accipitridae (Hawks, Eagles)|
|Species name author||Gurney, 1882|
|Population size||6000-15000 mature individuals|
|Distribution size (breeding/resident)||35,500 km2|
|Links to further information|
|- Additional Information on this species|