| 2009 IUCN Red List Category (as evaluated by BirdLife International - the official Red List Authority for birds for IUCN): Near Threatened Justification This species has been uplisted to Near Threatened because it is suspected to have undergone moderately rapid declines during the past three generations (41 years) owing to habitat loss and incidental poisoning and pollution, and is consequently believed to approach the threshold for classification as Vulnerable.
Family/Sub-family Accipitridae Species name author (Daudin, 1800) Taxonomic source(s) AERC TAC (2003), Cramp and Simmons (1977-1994), Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993) Identification 55-70 cm. Mid-sized, oddly-proportioned eagle, with very long pointed wings, 'tailless' appearance and bushy head. Wings held in a deep 'V' and flight fast with distinctive side to side tilting action. Males generally black but with chestnut from mantle to tail, brownish-grey shoulders, white underwing linings and bare red face and legs. Females have more extensive white underwings and grey secondaries. Juveniles are all brown with blue-grey cere, face and legs and longer tail. Similar spp Jackal and Augur Buzzards share a combination of black, white and chestnut plumage but shape of Bateleur renders it unmistakeable.
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Population estimate | Population trend | Range estimate (breeding/resident) | Country endemic? | 10,000 - 100,000 | decreasing | 28,000,000 km2 | No |
Range & population Terathopius ecaudatus has an extensive range across much of sub-Saharan Africa (from southern Mauritania, Senegal, southern Mali and Guinea east to central Sudan, Ethiopia and west Somalia and south to Namibia, Botswana and northern and north-eastern South Africa), and also occurs in south-west Arabia (south-west Saudi Arabia and Yemen). Its global population is estimated to be 10,000-100,000 individuals4. There have been significant population declines and/or range contractions suspected in many regions, including Botswana10, Côte d'Ivoire6, Kenya1, Namibia6, Nigeria (an estimated decline of at least 50 % in 30 years and now essentially confined to protected areas)5,11, Somalia12, South Africa4,8, Sudan6, parts of Zambia7, Zimbabwe6, and possibly parts of Tanzania9, in some areas, however, the species is not declining and remains widespread and common1,2,3.
|  | Important Bird Areas Click here to view map showing IBAs where species is recorded and triggers any of the IBA criteria. | Ecology: It inhabits open country, including grasslands, savanna and subdesert thornbush from sea level to 4,500 m but generally below 3,000 m4. It is generally considered resident but some adults as well as immatures are nomadic4. It takes both live and dead food, mostly mammals and birds but also some reptiles, carrion, insects and occasionally birds' eggs and crabs, foraging over a huge range (55-200 km2)4. The nest is built in the canopy of a large tree, and breeding is chiefly September-May in West Africa, throughout the year in East Africa and December-August in southern Africa4.
| Threats Putative reasons for declines vary, but include poisoned baits, pesticides, trapping for international trade, nest disturbance from spreading human settlements, and increased intensification and degradation of agricultural land1,4,8. The major cause of the decline seems to be almost entirely poisoning by a few large-scale commercial farmers, but poisoning is also a problem in tribal small-stock farming communities.
| | Conservation measures underway None is known.
| | Conservation measures proposed Implement education and awareness campaigns across its range to reduce the use of poisoned baits. Carry out regular population monitoring across its range.
| References 1. N. Baker in litt. (2005). 2. N. Cordeiro in litt. (2005). 3. F. Dowsett-Lemaire and R. Dowsett in litt. (2005). 4. Ferguson-Lees and Christie (2001). 5. P. Hall in litt. (2005, 2009). 6. del Hoyo et al. (1994). 7. P. Leonard in litt. (2005). 8. S. Thomsett in litt. (2005). 9. J. Wolstencroft in litt. (2005). 10. S. Tyler in litt. (2009). 11. O. J. Daniel in litt. (2009). 12. A. Ajama in litt. (2009).
| Text account compilers Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Jonathan Ekstrom (BirdLife International), Matt Harding (BirdLife International), John Pilgrim (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International) | Contributors Abdi Ajama, Neil Baker (Tanzania Bird Atlas Project), Chris Brewster, Chris Brown (Namibia Nature Foundation), Norbert Cordeiro (University of Illinois at Chicago), Onoja Joseph Daniel (A.P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute), Robert J. Dowsett, Francoise Dowsett-Lemaire, Philip Hall (Pro Natura International), Kapanya Kitaba, Pete Leonard, Simon Thomsett (The Peregrine Fund), Stephanie Tyler (BirdLife Botswana), James Wolstencroft (Massey University) | IUCN Red List evaluators Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International) |
| Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Terathopius ecaudatus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/2/2010 | 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. 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 |
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