Justification This species is suspected to be undergoing a rapid population decline owing to widespread and ongoing loss of lowland forest, which qualifies it as Vulnerable.

Family/Sub-family Accipitridae

Species name author Wallace, 1868

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

Identification 46 cm. Small, boldly-patterned hawk-eagle. Rufescent sides of head with blackish streaks, dark crest broadly tipped white, three dark bands on tail. Buffish-white base-colour to underside flight feathers and warm buffish coverts with narrow dark barring. Similar spp. Blyth's Hawk-eagle S. alboniger is larger, has narowly white-tipped crest, blackish tail with pale grey broad, central band and narrow tip. Whitish underwing with heavy black barring on coverts and dark sides of head. Voice Shrill, high-pitched yik-yee or kliit-kleeik, with rising second note. Fledged juveniles give high-pitched, breathless yii-yii-yii-yii and ee-ee-ee-ee-eeee.

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

2,500-9,999

decreasing

1,110,000 km²

No

Range & population Spizaetus nanus occurs in southern Tenasserim, Myanmar, peninsular Thailand, Peninsular and East (Sabah and Sarawak) Malaysia, Brunei, and Kalimantan and Sumatra, Indonesia. Although still widespread, it is uncommon or rare throughout its range. It may be nearing extinction in Thailand and is declining everywhere. However, its status is somewhat unclear because of the difficulties of separating it from S. alboniger.

Important Bird Areas Click here to view map showing IBAs where species is recorded and triggers any of the IBA criteria.

Ecology: It is resident in evergreen forests, chiefly in the lowlands and on lower hill-slopes, but has occasionally been reported up to 1,000 m. It may tolerate some habitat degradation, having been recorded in heavily logged forest in Kalimantan and Sumatra, and logged forest in Malaysia. However, a study in Malaysia recorded it in primary forest prior to selective logging, but not subsequently.

Threats The key threats are habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation as a result of large-scale commercial logging, including within protected areas, and widespread forest clearance for plantation agriculture (primarily rubber and oil-palms). Between 1985-1997, nine million and nearly seven million ha of forest were lost on Kalimantan and Sumatra, respectively. The impact of the major fires of 1997-1998 has yet to be fully assessed, but fires appear to be increasing in frequency and severity on Sumatra and Borneo. In Thailand, virtually all lowland forest has now been cleared, and encroachment continues on the lower slopes of almost all mountains. Despite these negative statistics, the species has shown resilience to at least a degree of habitat modification, even recorded within small lowland forest patches within oil palm plantations in Sabah¹.

Conservation measures underway CITES Appendix II. It occurs in numerous protected areas, including at least six (four national parks and two wildlife reserves) on Sumatra, at least three (two national parks and one wildlife reserve) in Kalimantan, at least five (one national park and four wildlife sanctuaries) in Thailand, at least three (two national parks and one wildlife reserve) in Malaysia, and one wildlife sanctuary in Myanmar.

Conservation measures proposed Conduct extensive surveys to more clearly establish its distribution and status compared with S. alboniger. Conduct research into its ecological requirements, particularly its tolerance of habitat degradation and its ranging behaviour. Promote the concept of Forest Management Units in Sabah. Assist forest managers in habitat identification and zoning of concession areas. Afford it full legal protection under Myanmar, Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian law.

References BirdLife International (2001). 1. Yeap Chin Aik in litt. (2007).

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), Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Pete Davidson (BirdLife International), Nic Peet (BirdLife International), Joe Tobias (BirdLife International)

Contributors Yeap Chin Aik, Geoffrey Davidson (Malaysian Nature Society)

IUCN Red List evaluators Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Mike Crosby (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Spizaetus nanus. 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.

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