It inhabits lowland and hill forest up to 1,000 m but is perhaps commoner in hills. Its tolerance of habitat degradation is poorly known.

Reinwardtoena browni is endemic to the islands of New Britain, New Ireland, New Hanover, Umboi, Lolobau, Duke of York, Lihir, Tabar and Watom in the Bismarck Archipelago and Manus, Rambutyo and Nauna in the Admiralty Islands Papua New Guinea where although it is considered rather scarce. Although it is rather poorly known, it appears to be widely distributed in suitable habitat. It is suspected to have declined rapidly in recent years owing to ongoing clearance of lowland forest (Buchanan et al. in press).

Conservation Actions Underway
None is known.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Identify and effectively protect a network of reserves, including some containing large areas of unlogged lowland forest and some large community-based conservation areas. Continue to monitor trends in forest loss. Research its tolerance of degraded forest. Research the extent and effects of hunting. Monitor populations in a number of primary forest and degraded forest sites on the islands.