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

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: #http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of _the_WP15.xls#.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2019	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2013	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence breeding/resident (km2)	132,000,000
Number of locations		-
Severely Fragmented		-

	Value	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
No. of mature individuals		poor	estimated	2009
Population trend	Stable		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)		-	-	-
Decline (10 years/3 generation past and future)		-	-	-
Number of subpopulations		-	-	-
Percentage in largest subpopulation		-	-	-
Generation length (yrs)	6.6	-	-	-

Population justification: This species is one of the commonest birds of prey throughout its wide range (Kemp et al. 2015). The European population is estimated at 1,100-2,600 pairs, which equates to 2,200-5,300 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2015).

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats. The small European population is estimated to be increasing (BirdLife International 2015).

Country/Territory	Occurrence status	Presence	Resident	Breeding	Non-breeding	Passage
Afghanistan	V	Extant			Yes
Algeria	N	Extant	Yes
Angola	N	Extant	Yes
Austria	V	Extant			Yes
Bangladesh	N	Extant		Yes
Belgium	V	Extant			Yes
Benin	N	Extant	Yes
Botswana	N	Extant	Yes
Brunei	V	Extant			Yes
Bulgaria	V	Extant			Yes
Burkina Faso	N	Extant	Yes
Burundi	N	Extant	Yes
Cambodia	N	Extant		Yes
Cameroon	N	Extant	Yes
Central African Republic	N	Extant	Yes
Chad	N	Extant	Yes
China (mainland)	N	Extant		Yes
Congo	N	Extant	Yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	N	Extant	Yes
Côte d'Ivoire	N	Extant	Yes
Czechia	V	Extant			Yes
Denmark	V	Extant			Yes
Djibouti	V	Extant			Yes
Egypt	N	Extant	Yes
Equatorial Guinea	N	Extant	Yes
Eritrea	N	Extant	Yes
Eswatini	N	Extant	Yes
Ethiopia	N	Extant	Yes
France	N	Extant		Yes
Gabon	N	Extant	Yes
Gambia	N	Extant	Yes
Germany	V	Extant			Yes
Ghana	N	Extant	Yes
Gibraltar (to UK)	V	Extant			Yes
Greece	V	Extant			Yes
Guinea	N	Extant	Yes
Guinea-Bissau	N	Extant	Yes
Hong Kong (China)	V	Extant			Yes
India	N	Extant		Yes
Indonesia	N	Extant		Yes
Iran, Islamic Republic of	N	Extant			Yes
Iraq	N	Extant	Yes
Israel	V	Extant			Yes
Italy	V	Extant			Yes
Kenya	N	Extant	Yes
Kuwait	V	Extant			Yes
Laos	N	Extant		Yes
Lebanon	V	Extant			Yes
Lesotho	N	Extant	Yes
Liberia	N	Extant	Yes
Libya	N	Extant	Yes
Madagascar	V	Extant			Yes
Malawi	N	Extant	Yes
Malaysia	N	Extant		Yes
Mali	N	Extant	Yes
Mauritania	N	Extant	Yes
Morocco	N	Extant	Yes
Mozambique	N	Extant	Yes
Myanmar	N	Extant		Yes
Namibia	N	Extant	Yes
Nepal	N	Extant		Yes
Netherlands	V	Extant			Yes
Niger	N	Extant	Yes
Nigeria	N	Extant	Yes
Oman	V	Extant			Yes
Pakistan	N	Extant		Yes
Papua New Guinea	N	Extant		Yes
Philippines	N	Extant		Yes
Poland	V	Extant			Yes
Portugal	N	Extant	Yes
Qatar	V	Extant
Romania	V	Extant			Yes
Rwanda	N	Extant	Yes
Saudi Arabia	N	Extant			Yes
Senegal	N	Extant	Yes
Sierra Leone	N	Extant	Yes
Singapore	N	Extant		Yes
Somalia	N	Extant	Yes
South Africa	N	Extant	Yes
South Sudan	N	Extant	Yes
Spain	N	Extant	Yes
Sri Lanka	N	Extant		Yes
Sudan	N	Extant
Switzerland	V	Extant			Yes
Syria	V	Extant			Yes
Tanzania	N	Extant	Yes
Thailand	N	Extant		Yes
Timor-Leste	N	Extant	Yes
Togo	N	Extant	Yes
Tunisia	N	Extant	Yes
Turkey	V	Extant			Yes
Uganda	N	Extant	Yes
United Arab Emirates	V	Extant			Yes
Uzbekistan	V	Extant			Yes
Vietnam	N	Extant		Yes
Yemen	N	Extant	Yes
Zambia	N	Extant	Yes
Zimbabwe	N	Extant	Yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Portugal	Évora plains
Portugal	Mourão, Moura e Barrancos
Portugal	Monforte plains
Portugal	Vila Fernando
Portugal	Tejo estuary
Portugal	Castro Verde plains
Portugal	Cabeção
Spain	Olivenza-La Albuera
Spain	Lácara-Morante
Spain	Montánchez mountain range-Cornalvo reservoir
Spain	Trujillo-Torrecillas de la Tiesa
Spain	Campo Arañuelo-Valdecañas reservoir
Spain	Monfragüe
Spain	Borbollón reservoir
Spain	Alcudia valley and mountain range
Spain	Tierra de Campiñas steppes
Spain	Tierra de Campos steppes
Spain	Campo de Argañán
Spain	Tietar valley
Spain	Antequera mountain range-El Chorro
Spain	Sierra Morena de Sevilla
Spain	Pela mountain range-Orellana reservoir-Zorita
Spain	Plain between Cáceres and Trujillo-Aldea del Cano
Yemen	Al-Kadan area
Portugal	Serra de Penha Garcia e Campina de Toulões
Portugal	Upper River Tejo
Portugal	Cabrela
Portugal	Arraiolos
Portugal	Albufeira do Caia
Portugal	River Guadiana
Morocco	Oued Tahadart
Portugal	Torre da Bolsa
Morocco	Canton Forestier de Sidi Bou Ghaba
Morocco	Sebkha Bou Areg
Morocco	Embouchure Oued Moulouya

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest	suitable	resident
Desert	Hot	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	suitable	resident
Savanna	Dry	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 3000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses 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	-	-			Non-trivial	Recent

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2022) Species factsheet: Elanus caeruleus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 22/01/2022. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2022) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 22/01/2022.