Assessment Rationale:

This species has a restricted range (extent of occurrence of 40 km2) and a limited number of locations, but there is no known major threat. It is therefore considered to be Near Threatened (NT), almost meeting criteria B. 

Geographic Range:

This species is endemic to the island of El Hierro. It inhabits the central mountains of the island.

Population:

The size and trend within the subpopulations are stable.

Habitat and Ecology

This species lives in the humid parts of the local pine forests (Pinar) and in the relics of Laurel forests (Laurisilva), which is restricted to the central parts of the island. It occurs occasionally in temperate lowland-shrubland (Piso Infracanario) down to 250 m in the North.

Major Threat(s):

Deforestation and fires can be a threat to this species locally. It is unlikely that a threat would affect the whole range or population of this species.

Conservation Actions

Large parts of the subpopulations are under local conservation schemes. Its status was estimated by Valido et al. (1999) as LR/nt (low risk).