• 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., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	C2a(i)	C2a(i)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2017	Endangered	C2a(i)
2016	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2012	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2008	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Near Threatened

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	Medium
Land mass type	Land-mass type - continent	Average mass	18 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence breeding/resident (km2)	123,000	medium
Number of locations	11-100	-
Fragmentation		-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
No. of mature individuals	1000-2499	poor	suspected	2016
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)		-	-	-
Decline (10 years/3 generation past and future)		-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-100	-	-	-
Largest subpopulations		-	-	-

Population justification: It is generally rare (Butynski et al. 1997), and reporting rates have been dropping (S. Cichon, M. McQuillan and E. Meyjes in litt. 2016). Its population size had previously been estimated to be in the range of 2,500-4,999 mature individuals, but given the decline in reporting rate and a lack of recent sightings this is now likely to be an overestimate (S. Cichon, M. McQuillan and E. Meyjes in litt. 2016). Therefore, the population size is precautionarily suspected to fall in the range of 1,000-2,500 mature individuals with no subpopulation containing >250 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The species's population is suspected to be declining in line with the clearance and degradation of forest within its range, although the likely rate of decline has not been estimated.

Country/Territory	Occurrence status	Presence	Resident	Breeding	Non-breeding	Passage
Burundi	N	Extant	Yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	N	Extant	Yes
Rwanda	N	Extant	Yes
Uganda	N	Extant	Yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Burundi	Kibira National Park
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	Virunga National Park
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	Forests west of Lake Edward
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	Kahuzi-Biega National Park
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	Itombwe Mountains
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	Mount Kabobo
Rwanda	Volcans National Park
Rwanda	Nyungwe National Park
Uganda	Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Uganda	Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Uganda	Ruwenzori (Rwenzori) Mountains National Park

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Altitude	1960 - 3400 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	1550 - 3500 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2020) Species factsheet: Cryptospiza shelleyi. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 30/05/2020. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2020) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 30/05/2020.