• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note

Chlamydotis undulata and C. macqueenii (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously lumped as C. undulata following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).  

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	A2cd+3cd+4cd

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	Vulnerable	A2cd+3cd+4cd
2014	Vulnerable	A2cd+3cd+4cd

Migratory status	unknown	Forest dependency	Does not normally occur in forest
Land mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence breeding/resident (km2)	6,100,000	medium
Number of locations		-
Severely Fragmented		-

	Value	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
No. of mature individuals	13000-33000	poor	estimated	2014
Population trend	Decreasing	medium	suspected	-
Decline (3 years/1 generation past)		-	-	-
Decline (5 years/1 generation past)		-	-	-
Decline (10 years/1 generation past)		-	-	-
Decline (10 years/3 generation future)	30-49	-	-	-
Decline (10 years/3 generation past and future)	30-49	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations		-	-	-
Percentage in largest subpopulation		-	-	-
Generation length (yrs)	6.6	-	-	-

Population justification: In the mid-1990s, this species's population was estimated to number at least 9,800 individuals (Goriup 1997). It had been roughly estimated that North Africa held around 30% of the total population of C. undulata and C. macqueenii when lumped, which has been estimated at c.106,000-110,000 individuals. On the basis of these estimates, the population of C. undulata (as split from C. macqueenii) is placed in the band for 20,000-49,999 individuals, assumed to equate to c.13,000-33,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The species had been in decline prior to 2004 (F. Launay pers. comm. 2004), but this rate may have now slowed or been reversed as a result of a captive breeding and release programme (O. Combreau in litt. 2012). The Canary Islands was reported to be fluctuating over the period 2001-2012 (BirdLife International 2015). Until evidence of the demographic impacts of these releases is available, the overall population is suspected to be in rapid decline owing to the on-going threats of hunting pressure and habitat loss and degradation.

Country/Territory	Occurrence status	Presence	Resident	Breeding	Non-breeding	Passage
Algeria	N	Extant	Yes
Egypt	N	Extant	Yes
Libya	N	Extant	Yes
Malta	V	Extant
Mauritania	N	Extant	Yes
Morocco	N	Extant	Yes
Spain	N	Extant	Yes
Sudan	N	Extant	Yes
Tunisia	N	Extant	Yes
Western Sahara	N	Extant	Yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Spain	Lanzarote islets
Spain	Famara sandy plain
Spain	Plains of La Corona-Las Honduras
Spain	Plains of Mareta-Hoya de la Yegua
Spain	Isthmus of Jandía sandy plain
Spain	Lajares sandy plain-Cotillo-Ezquinzo
Spain	Coast between Corralejo and Tostón
Spain	Morro Tabaiba-Morro de los Rincones-Vallebrón mountains
Spain	Los Molinos gully-Plain of La Laguna
Spain	Cuchillete de Buenavista-gully of La Torre-Los Alares
Spain	Peninsula of Jandía
Spain	Sandy plain of Corralejo
Spain	Río Cabras gully
Tunisia	Sebkhet Ennoual
Spain	Llano Grande - Malpaís Grande - Malpaís Chico

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	non-breeding
Desert	Hot	major	non-breeding
Desert	Hot	major	breeding
Desert	Temperate	major	breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	non-breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	breeding
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Nomadic grazing	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion, Reduced reproductive success
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Species disturbance, Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion, Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Climate change & severe weather	Storms & flooding	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion, Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Energy production & mining	Oil & gas drilling	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance
Human intrusions & disturbance	War, civil unrest & military exercises	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance
Human intrusions & disturbance	Work & other activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Vulpes vulpes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Species mortality
Residential & commercial development	Tourism & recreation areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Transportation & service corridors	Utility & service lines	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality

Purpose	Primary form used	Life stage used	Source	Scale	Level	Timing
Food - human	-	-	-		Non-trivial	Recent
Pets/display animals, horticulture	-	-	-	International	Non-trivial	Recent
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	-	-	-	International	Non-trivial	Recent

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Species factsheet: Chlamydotis undulata. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 21/03/2023. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2023) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 21/03/2023.