BirdLife species factsheet for Red-collared Mountain-babbler
Red-collared Mountain-babbler Kupeornis rufocinctus occurs in the Albertine Rift mountains in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (del Hoyo et al. 2007) where it is known to occur in the Itombwe Mountains, Mt Kabobo, Nyungwe Forest, and Mt Heha / Ijenda and Teza Forests (Stattersfield et al. 1998). It is currently listed as Near Threatened, approaching the thresholds for Vulnerable under criterion B1ab(iii,v), because it was thought to have a moderately small range (approaching 20,000 km2) in which its habitat is threatened by slash-and-burn agriculture. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat clearance (del Hoyo et al. 2007), but although the global population size has not been quantified, the species is described as occurring at high densities in suitable habitat (del Hoyo et al. 2007).
However, the most recent range map for this species estimates its Extent of Occurrence (EOO) at 41,400 km2. As a result, it no longer approaches the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criteria. Thus, if this species’s population does not approach 10,000 mature individuals and the rate of population decline does not approach 30% over three generations (17 years), the Red-collared Mountain-babbler would warrant downlisting to Least Concern on the basis that it does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under any of the IUCN Red List criteria.
Further information on the distribution, global population trends and size of this species is required, and any additional comments on its proposed downlisting are welcome.
References:
del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Christie, D. (2007) Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions: Barcelona, Spain.
Stattersfield, A. J., Crosby, M. J., Long, A. J. and Wege, D. C. (1998) Endemic bird areas of the world: priorities for bird conservation. BirdLife International: Cambridge, U.K.
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