• 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
A2abcd+3bcd+4abcd	A2abcd+3bcd+4abcd	A2abcd+3bcd+4abcd; C1

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Critically Endangered	A2abcd+3bcd+4abcd
2016	Critically Endangered	A2bcd+3bcd
2015	Critically Endangered	A2bcd+3bcd+4bcd
2012	Vulnerable	C1+2a(ii)
2008	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2007	Vulnerable
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)	21,100,000	medium
Extent of Occurrence non-breeding (km2)	22,100,000	medium
Number of locations	11-100	-
Severely Fragmented		-

	Value	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
No. of mature individuals	2500-9999	medium	estimated	2015
Population trend	Decreasing	poor	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)	59-94	-	-	-
Decline (10 years/3 generation past and future)	59-94	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations		-	-	-
Percentage in largest subpopulation	100	-	-	-
Generation length (yrs)	10.42	-	-	-

Population justification: An old estimate of 7,000-12,500 mature individuals was extrapolated from a number of regional estimates. This equates to 10,500-18,750 individuals in total. However, a new estimate of the global population suggests the population is much smaller, consisting of just 5,500 individuals (Murn et al. 2016). This equates to just 3,685 mature individuals here placed in the band 2,500-9,999 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The species is thought to be declining at an extremely rapid rate. Ogada et al. (2016) estimate a median decline of 6.7% per year (range: 2.8-8.8%), equating to a decline of 88% (range: 59-94%) over three generations (31.26 years [Bird et al. 2020]). Road surveys in Botswana support these rates of decline, with a decline of 78% recorded between 1991-1995 and 2015-2016, equating to a decline of 87.5% over three generations. The species has shown severe declines throughout its West African range (F. Dowsett-Lemaire in litt. 2006, J.M. Thiollay in litt. 2006) and also across southern Africa (Ferguson-Lees et al. 2001). As many significant threats are ongoing, similar rates of decline are suspected to continue into the future.

Country/Territory	Occurrence status	Presence	Resident	Breeding	Non-breeding	Passage
Angola	N	Extant			Yes
Benin	N	Extant	Yes
Botswana	N	Extant	Yes
Burkina Faso	N	Extant	Yes
Burundi	N	Extant	Yes
Cameroon	N	Extant	Yes		Yes
Central African Republic	N	Extant	Yes		Yes
Chad	N	Extant	Yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	N	Extant	Yes
Côte d'Ivoire	N	Extant	Yes
Djibouti	N	Extant	Yes
Eritrea	N	Extant	Yes
Eswatini	N	Presence Uncertain	Yes
Ethiopia	N	Extant	Yes
Gabon	V	Extant			Yes
Gambia	N	Extant	Yes
Ghana	N	Extant	Yes
Guinea	N	Extant	Yes
Guinea-Bissau	N	Extant	Yes
Kenya	N	Extant	Yes
Malawi	N	Extant	Yes
Mali	N	Extant	Yes
Mauritania	N	Extant	Yes
Mozambique	N	Extant	Yes
Namibia	N	Extant	Yes
Niger	N	Extant	Yes
Nigeria	N	Presence Uncertain	Yes
Rwanda	N	Extant	Yes
Senegal	N	Extant	Yes
Somalia	N	Extant	Yes		Yes
South Africa	N	Extant	Yes
South Sudan	N	Extant	Yes
Sudan	N	Extant	Yes
Tanzania	N	Extant	Yes
Togo	N	Extant	Yes
Uganda	N	Extant	Yes
Zambia	N	Extant	Yes		Yes
Zimbabwe	N	Extant	Yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
South Africa	Zululand
Burundi	Kigwena Forest Nature Reserve
South Africa	Phongolo Nature Reserve
Kenya	Ol Ari Nyiro
Kenya	Lolldaiga-Mugogodo-Ewaso N'yiro
South Africa	Palaborwa
South Africa	Orpen
South Africa	Bushbuckridge
Mozambique	Magude - Muomba
South Africa	Opathe Imfolozi link
South Africa	Pongola - Magudu
Mozambique	Gorongosa National Park and Marromeu Complex

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Savanna	Dry	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 4000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - 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		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Persecution/control	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Unintentional effects (species is not the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Species mortality, Other
Human intrusions & disturbance	Work & other activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance, Reduced reproductive success
Other options	Other threat	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Transportation & service corridors	Utility & service lines	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality

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

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2022) Species factsheet: Trigonoceps occipitalis. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 30/06/2022. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2022) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 30/06/2022.