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

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. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	A2ace+3bce+4ace	A2ace+3bce+4ace

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2020	Endangered	A2ace+3bce+4ace
2018	Endangered	A2ace+3ce+4ace
2016	Endangered	A2ace+3ce+4ace
2013	Endangered	A2ace+3ce+4ace
2012	Endangered	A2ace+3ce+4ace
2010	Endangered	A2a,c,e; A3c,e; A4a,c,e
2008	Vulnerable	A2a,c,e; A3c,e; A4a,c,e
2005	Vulnerable
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1994	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1988	Threatened

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	Does not normally occur in forest
Land mass type	Land-mass type - continent	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence breeding/resident (km2)	3,920,000	medium
Extent of Occurrence non-breeding (km2)	120,000	medium
Number of locations		-
Severely Fragmented		-

	Value	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
No. of mature individuals	41700	good	estimated	2015
Population trend	Decreasing	good	estimated	-
Decline (3 years/1 generation past)		-	-	-
Decline (5 years/1 generation past)		-	-	-
Decline (10 years/1 generation past)		-	-	-
Decline (10 years/3 generation future)	51-79	-	-	-
Decline (10 years/3 generation past and future)	51-79	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage in largest subpopulation	100	-	-	-
Generation length (yrs)	12	-	-	-

Population justification:

In 2015, the overall number of pairs was about 20,850 pairs, or 41,700 mature individuals (Sherley et al. 2019a). This roughly equates to about 66,720 individuals in adult plumage based on the conversion factor of 3.2 for pairs to individuals (Crawford and Boonstra 1994).

Trend justification: The population in Namibia declined from 12,162 pairs in 1978 to an estimated 5,800 pairs in 2015. The South African population declined from c.70,000 pairs in 1978/1979 (Shelton et al. 1984) to 19,300 pairs in 2015. Decreases in both countries amount to > 50% in three generations (Kemper 2015, Hagen 2016).

Country/Territory	Occurrence status	Presence	Resident	Breeding	Non-breeding	Passage
Angola	N	Extant			Yes
Congo	V	Extant			Yes
Gabon	V	Extant			Yes
Mozambique	N	Extant			Yes
Namibia	N	Extant	Yes
South Africa	N	Extant	Yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Angola	Iona National Park
Namibia	Namib-Naukluft Park
Namibia	Mercury Island
Namibia	Ichaboe Island
Namibia	Lüderitz Bay islands
Namibia	Possession Island
South Africa	Algoa Bay Islands: Addo Elephant National Park
South Africa	Bird Island
South Africa	West Coast National Park and Saldanha Bay islands
South Africa	Dassen Island
South Africa	Robben Island
South Africa	Boulders Beach
South Africa	Dyer Island Nature Reserve
South Africa	Overstrand
South Africa	Alexandria coastal belt / Algoa Bay Island Nature Reserve - Marine
South Africa	Bird Island / Dassen Island / Heuningnes river and estuary system / Lower Berg river wetlands - Marine
Namibia	Namib-Naukluft Park - Marine
Namibia	Sperrgebiet - Marine
South Africa	Greater Addo complex
South Africa	Kenton - Alexandria - Paterson

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands	major	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Rocky Shoreline	major	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Shingle and/or Pebble Shoreline and/or Beaches	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	major	breeding
Marine Oceanic	Epipelagic (0-200m)	major	non-breeding
Marine Oceanic	Epipelagic (0-200m)	major	breeding
Shrubland	Temperate	major	breeding
Altitude	0 - 50 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Species mortality
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success
Climate change & severe weather	Storms & flooding	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		No/Negligible Impact: 2
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Energy production & mining	Oil & gas drilling	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		No/Negligible Impact: 2
		Stresses Species disturbance
Human intrusions & disturbance	Work & other activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Unlikely to Return		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Species disturbance
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Arctocephalus pusillus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species disturbance, Competition, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Larus dominicanus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance, Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Pollution	Industrial & military effluents - Oil spills	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality

Purpose	Primary form used	Life stage used	Source	Scale	Level	Timing
Pets/display animals, horticulture	-	-		International	Non-trivial	Recent

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2022) Species factsheet: Spheniscus demersus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 30/11/2022. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2022) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 30/11/2022.