Data Zone
Justification of Red List Category
This species is listed as Near Threatened because it is thought to have a moderately small, disjunct range, in which it is susceptible to the effects of habitat loss. The impact of forest clearance on the species is not known, and the species seems able to survive in modified habitats. However, further surveys and monitoring are needed.
Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as rare (Gibbs et al. 2001).
Columba albinucha occurs in dense mid-altitude forests and forested slopes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where it is reported to be locally common, Bangangai Game Reserve in South Sudan (on the border with the DRC; Hillman and Hillman 1986), Bwamba and Kibale in west Uganda (few records), and Cameroon, where until recently it was known from only one locality in the Rumpi Hills (three records in 1967; Urban et al. 1986). However, since 1992 there have been several sightings from Mt Kupe and the Bakossi Mountains at 1,000-1,450 m often in small coffee farms in farmbush with primary transitional forest nearby (Bowden 1998a; Williams 1995) and, in 1999, it was recorded from Santchou Sanctuary south of Dschang (Fotso et al. 2001), Mt Manenguba (on the lower slopes and at 2,100 m) and there is one unconfirmed record from nearby Mt Nlonako (Dowsett-Lemaire and Dowsett 1999c; Fotso et al. 2001). The species is generally considered scarce throughout its restricted and fragmented range (del Hoyo et al. 1997).
The species inhabits dense lowland forest and forested slopes (del Hoyo et al. 1997). Its altitudinal range in Uganda is 700-1,800 m, with upper limits of 1,500 m in DRC and 1,100 m in Cameroon. It feeds on fruit and berries taken from the canopy or middle levels in the forest, rarely descending to the ground. A bird in breeding condition has been collected in February, and the only recorded nest contained one egg and was found in secondary growth in a forest clearing (del Hoyo et al. 1997).
The species's scarcity and its very restricted and fragmented range leaves it highly vulnerable to the effects of habitat loss (del Hoyo et al. 1997). The main threats to the species are therefore presumed to be forest clearance for small-holder cultivation and grazing and subsistence-level logging.
Conservation Actions Underway
No conservation action is known for this species.
Text account compilers
Evans, M., O'Brien, A., Shutes, S., Symes, A., Taylor, J. & Westrip, J.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Species factsheet: Columba albinucha. Downloaded from
http://www.birdlife.org on 26/03/2023.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2023) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
http://www.birdlife.org on 26/03/2023.
