• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• 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.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2023	Near Threatened	A3c+4c
2016	Vulnerable	A3c
2012	Vulnerable	A3c
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1988	Near Threatened

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	high
Land-mass type		Average mass	567 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	13,300,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	2016-2034
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	10-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Generation length	6.02 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-100	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: There is very little data on the population size, but the species is described as rare to locally common, though easily overlooked due to its secretive habits (Martínez-Vilalta et al. 2020). Wetlands International (2022) suspects a population of 10,000-25,000 mature individuals. Based on the high number of observational records throughout its extremely large range however (per eBird 2022, GBIF.org 2022), this value appears to be an underestimate. While the population size remains unquantified here, the population is unlikely to be small.

Trend justification: There are no data on the population trend, but declines are suspected on the basis of the loss, degradation and fragmentation of forests, mangroves and marshes within the range.
Over the past three generations (18.1 years), 9% of tree cover has been lost within the range; since 2016, this has been increasing to a rate equivalent to 12% over three generations (Global Forest Watch 2021, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). The species inhabits forests near water bodies and streams, which are easily accessible for human encroachment and disturbance. It is therefore likely that the species is disproportionately impacted by forest loss and additional habitat degradation, and that population declines are steeper than the rate of tree cover loss suggests. Particularly in proximity to heavily converted or densely populated areas population declines may be steeper (A. Stier per C. Green in litt. 2023). Tentatively, the rate of population decline over the past three generations is here placed in the band 10-19%, while the rate of future declines is suspected at 20-29% over the next three generations.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Belize	extant	native	yes
Bolivia	extant	native	yes
Brazil	extant	native	yes
Colombia	extant	native	yes
Costa Rica	extant	native	yes
Ecuador	extant	native	yes
French Guiana	extant	native	yes
Guatemala	extant	native	yes
Guyana	extant	native	yes
Honduras	extant	native	yes
Mexico	extant	native	yes
Nicaragua	extant	native	yes
Panama	extant	native	yes
Peru	extant	native	yes
Suriname	extant	native	yes
Venezuela	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Colombia	Chaviripa-El Rubí
Colombia	El Encanto de Guanapalo
Colombia	Reserva Natural el Garcero y alrededores
Colombia	Reservas de la vereda Altagracia
Honduras	Jeanette Kawas
Honduras	Laguna Caratasca
Honduras	Laguna de Guaimoreto

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Swamp	major	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 2600 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		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	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	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		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Storms & flooding	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Type Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Transportation & service corridors	Shipping lanes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence
Other household goods	subsistence

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Agami Heron Agamia agami. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/agami-heron-agamia-agami on 04/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 04/12/2024.