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Moustached Hawk-cuckoo Cuculus vagans

Justification
This forest-associated species is listed as Near Threatened because it is suspected to have experienced a moderately rapid decline owing to the extensive loss of lowland forests from large areas of the Sundaic lowlands. It is not considered more threatened because it can use secondary habitats and occurs in mid-elevation forest.

Taxonomic source(s)
Sibley, C. G.; Monroe, B. L. 1990. Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. Yale University Press, New Haven, USA.

Distribution and population
Cuculus vagans is confined to the Sundaic lowlands, from south Tenasserim, Myanmar, peninsular Thailand, south Laos, Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Kalimantan, Sumatra and, occasionally, west Java, Indonesia, where it is generally uncommon (BirdLife International 2001). It is thought to be in decline owing to the extensive loss of lowland forest within its range.

Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as uncommon in Thailand and rare in Sumatra and Borneo (del Hoyo et al. 1997).

Trend justification
Forest destruction in the Sundaic lowlands of Indonesia, and in Thailand and Malaysia has been extensive, but the species is tolerant of secondary habitats and occurs in mid-altitude forest so is thought to have avoided more than a moderately rapid decline.

Ecology
It occurs in evergreen forest, forest edge and secondary forest; especially lower hill slopes, alluvial forest and bamboo forest up to 915 m. It is a brood parasite.

Threats
Rates of forest loss in the Sundaic lowlands have been extremely rapid (Kalimantan lost nearly 25% of its evergreen forest during 1985-1997, and Sumatra lost almost 30% of its 1985 cover), because of a variety of factors, including the escalation of logging and land conversion, with deliberate targeting of all remaining stands of valuable timber including those inside protected areas, plus forest fires (particularly in 1997-1998).

Conservation actions underway
None are known.

Conservation actions proposed
Protect areas of lowland forest within the species's range. Enforce restrictions on agricultural encroachment and logging within such protected areas. Estimate population trends by calculating rates of forest loss within its range using satellite imagery and remote sensing techniques.

References
BirdLife International. 2001. Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.

Further web sources of information
Detailed species accounts from the Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book (BirdLife International 2001).

View photos and videos, and hear sounds of this species from the Internet Bird Collection

Text account compilers
Benstead, P., Bird, J., Taylor, J.

IUCN Red List evaluators
Butchart, S., Symes, A.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Cuculus vagans. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 20/06/2013. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2013) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 20/06/2013.

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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Key facts
Current IUCN Red List category	Near Threatened
Family	Cuculidae (Cuckoos)
Species name author	M
Population size	Unknown mature individuals
Population trend	Decreasing
Distribution size (breeding/resident)	952,000 km²
Country endemic?	No
Links to further information
- Additional Information on this species