Brown-backed Needletail (Hirundapus giganteus)

Brown-backed Needletail Hirundapus giganteus

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

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.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	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

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	11,700,000 km²
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	8.5 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is reported to be commonly encountered in suitable habitat (del Hoyo et al. 1999).

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be declining in line with the clearance and degradation of forest within the species's range.

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor
Bangladesh	extant	native	yes
Brunei	extant	native	yes
Cambodia	extant	native	yes
India	extant	native	yes
Indonesia	extant	native	yes
Laos	extant	native	yes
Malaysia	extant	native	yes
Myanmar	extant	native	yes
Philippines	extant	native		yes
Singapore	extant	native	yes
Sri Lanka	extant	native	yes
Thailand	extant	native	yes
Vietnam	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 1800 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Species factsheet: Hirundapus giganteus. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/brown-backed-needletail-hirundapus-giganteus on 30/11/2023.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2023) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org on 30/11/2023.