Justification This secretive species qualifies as Near Threatened because it is likely to be undergoing a moderately rapid population decline owing to hunting and logging.

Family/Sub-family Phasianidae

Species name author (Hartlaub, 1855)

Taxonomic source(s) Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

unknown

decreasing

-

No

Range & population Dendragapus falcipennis occurs in far eastern Russia, from c.120°E to the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk and Sakhalin Island, north to c.60°N and south to the lower Amur region and the Sikhote-Alin mountains, and to the Xiao Hinggan Ling mountains in Heilongjiang, China. It has apparently been extirpated from China¹. It occurs at low densities of between six and 25 birds per 100 km² within this relatively small range, although these densities may be under-estimated because of its elusive behaviour.

Ecology: It inhabits coniferous forest, mainly of spruce, e.g. Picea jezoensis and fir Abies nephrolepis, and although it uses secondary forest, it avoids open areas and the youngest stages of forest succession.

Threats It is assumed to be declining because of large-scale clear-cutting for timber, forest fires and hunting for food, and has been reported to disappear rapidly from colonised areas, apparently because it does not fear man and is therefore easily shot.

Conservation measures underway None is known.

Conservation measures proposed Survey to assess the population size. Protect large areas of primary forest within its range. Quantify the extent of logging within its range. Quantify the impact of hunting on populations. Protect against hunting.

References BirdLife International (2001). 1. Madge and McGowen (2002).

Further web sources of information

Fully detailed species accounts from the Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book (BirdLife International 2001), together with new information collated since the publication of the Red Data Book

Text account compilers Phil Benstead (BirdLife International), Simon Mahood (BirdLife International)

IUCN Red List evaluators Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Simon Mahood (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Dendragapus falcipennis. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 9/2/2010

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.

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