Species

BirdLife Species Champion	Become a BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme Supporter
For information about BirdLife Species Champions and Species Guardians visit the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme.

Justification
This species is considered Endangered owing to its very small and severely fragmented population, which has continued to decline until very recently. However, trends appear to have stabilised or even reversed over the last five years, and if this is confirmed the species may warrant downlisting to Vulnerable.

Taxonomic source(s)
AOU. 1998. Check-list of North American birds. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.
Sibley, C. G.; Monroe, B. L. 1990. Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. Yale University Press, New Haven, USA.
Stotz, D. F.; Fitzpatrick, J. W.; Parker, T. A.; Moskovits, D. K. 1996. Neotropical birds: ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Synonym(s)
Accipiter gundlachii Collar and Andrew (1988), Accipiter gundlachii Collar et al. (1994), Accipiter gundlachii gundlachii Collar and Andrew (1988), Accipiter gundlachii gundlachii Collar et al. (1994)

Identification
43-51 cm. Medium-sized, stocky forest raptor. Adult, dark blue-grey upperparts with blackish cap, and barred rufous underparts. Immature, brown above, paler below, but with dark streaking. Rounded tail in flight. Similar spp. Sharp-shinned Hawk A. striatus is smaller and has squared tail in flight. Broad-winged Hawk Buteo platypterus is broader-winged and -tailed, and chunkier. Voice Loud kek-kek-kek ....

Distribution and population
Accipiter gundlachi has never been common, but formerly occurred throughout Cuba. It is now very rare and local, with five main population centres known to remain. The total population was estimated at 150-200 pairs in 1994. There are three centres for the nominate race in west and central Cuba, but two of these held only three and 20 pairs respectively in 1994. There are two further areas important for the race wileyi in the east of the island, where the bulk of the population resides. Sightings around Pico Turquino are scarce, but a bird was seen on the north slopes of the Sierra Maestra in early 1999 (Rompré et al. 2000).

Population justification
The population is estimated to number c.400 individuals, equivalent to c.270 mature individuals.

Trend justification
There are no new data on trends; however, the species is suspected to still be slowly declining, owing mainly to habitat loss and persecution.

Ecology
It is found up to 800 m in a variety of wooded habitats including humid, dry and pine forests (Bierregaard 1994a). It preys mostly on birds, including poultry. The breeding season is February-May, with young fledging by June (Bierregaard 1994a, A. Kirkconnell in litt. 1999). The nest is generally placed close to the trunk of a high tree, but below the canopy.

Threats
Habitat loss and disturbance as a result of logging and agricultural conversion, and human persecution (because it preys on poultry) have been the chief causes of its  decline (A. Kirkconnell in litt. 2012).

Conservation actions underway
CITES Appendix II. Populations occur within the Sierra Maestra and Sierra del Cristal national parks. Environmental education has grown in Cuba in recent years (A. Kirkconnell in litt. 2012).

Conservation actions proposed
Survey Pinar del Río province and the Zapata swamp, and re-survey areas in eastern Cuba to determine current populations and assess trends. Further define the species's ecological requirements. Conduct education and public awareness campaigns to highlight the plight of the bird and discourage human persecution (A. Mitchell in litt. 1998).

Related state of the world's birds case studies

• West Nile Virus is spreading throughout the Western Hemisphere

References
Collar, N. J.; Gonzaga, L. P.; Krabbe, N.; Madroño Nieto, A.; Naranjo, L. G.; Parker, T. A.; Wege, D. C. 1992. Threatened birds of the Americas: the ICBP/IUCN Red Data Book. International Council for Bird Preservation, Cambridge, U.K.

Bierregaard, R. O. 1994. Neotropical Accipitridae (Hawks and Eagles). In: del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. (ed.), Handbook of the birds of the world, pp. 52-205. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.

Rompré, G.; Aubry, Y.; Kirkconnell, A. 2000. Recent observations of threatened birds in eastern Cuba. Cotinga 13: 66.

Further web sources of information
Detailed species account from the Threatened birds of the Americas: the BirdLife International Red Data Book (BirdLife International 1992). Please note, taxonomic treatment and IUCN Red List category may have changed since publication.

Recuento detallado de la especie tomado del libro Aves Amenazadas de las Americas, Libro Rojo de BirdLife International (BirdLife International 1992). Nota: la taxonomoa y la categora de la Lista Roja de la UICN pudo haber cambiado desde esta publicacin.

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

Text account compilers
Benstead, P., Isherwood, I., Khwaja, N., Mahood, S., Sharpe, C J, Wege, D.

Contributors
Kirkconnell, A., Mitchell, A.

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

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Accipiter gundlachi. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 21/05/2013. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2013) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 21/05/2013.

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.