Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This pigeon is suspected to be undergoing moderately rapid population declines owing to the effects of habitat loss and hunting pressure. It has therefore been classified as Near Threatened.
Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as fairly common to uncommon, although locally rare to uncommon in several countries (Thewlis et al. 1998, Gibbs et al. 2001, Goes 2013).
Trend justification
No trends data area available, but the population is suspected to be undergoing a moderately rapid decline owing to the effects of habitat loss (especially as the species may be a lowland forest specialist), and hunting pressure.
Treron phayrei is widely distributed, occurring in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, eastern India, south Yunnan (China), Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Cochinchina (Viet Nam) (Gibbs et al. 2001).
This species is found in lowland and hill forest and moist-deciduous forest up to 1,000 m, (1,500 m in Himalayas), where it may be locally common (Rasmussen and Anderton 2005) but in the south-east Asian part of its range it is strikingly localised (J.W. Duckworth in litt. 2016). In Cambodia it occurs to 450 m, although it is nowhere common (Goes 2013, F. Goes in litt. 2016), and to 670 m in Phongsaly province, Laos (Fuchs et al. 2007). In Bhutan, the species has been recorded below 400 m and is only known from two localities (del Hoyo et al. 2020). In Indochina it may be a lowland forest specialist (R. J. Timmins in litt. 2013), potentially restricted to certain types of lowland forest given its absence from some well surveyed areas of lowland forest (see Thewlis et al. 1998, J. W. Duckworth in litt. 2016). It is a frugivorous species and commonly breeds between March and July (del Hoyo et al. 2020).
It is presumably very sensitive to hunting pressure and may be reliant on semi-evergreen/evergreen forest at low elevations (R. J. Timmins in litt. 2013). In Cambodia, Laos and perhaps elsewhere, the primary threat is widespread trapping of forest pigeons for food and nest harvesting for local trade (F. Goes in litt. 2013, J. W. Duckworth in litt. 2016). It is likely to have suffered a large amount of habitat loss within its range, and increasing loss of lowland forests, namely for large agricultural concessions, is expected to accelerate the species decline (F. Goes in litt. 2016, J. W. Duckworth in litt. 2016). Accelerated declines may already have impacted the species particularly across its Cambodian range, now likely restricted to the outer extremities of the country (eBird 2020, F. Goes in litt. 2020).
Conservation and research actions underway
No targeted conservation actions are known for this species. It is however thought to occur in semi-evergreen and evergreen forest patches in the Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia, including Seima (with c. 1-20 birds regularly recorded across different locations) and Mondulkiri protected forests, as well as Phnom Prich and Lumphat wildlife sanctuaries (Gray et al. 2014, del Hoyo et al. 2020).
Conservation and research actions proposed
Conduct repeated surveys in areas within the species's range to determine current distribution and abundance, as well as assess population trends. Conduct ecological studies to improve understanding of its precise habitat requirements, tolerance of secondary habitats (and its relative use compared to primary forest) and response to fragmentation. Assess scale of hunting pressure and consider educational campaigns. For regions where hunting is a significant threat, determine the optimal ways to reduce it, then enact them (J. W. Duckworth in litt. 2016).
c. 27 cm. Medium-sized, mostly green pigeon with a short bill. The wings have prominent yellow edging on the flight feathers and a yellow bar across the coverts. Both sexes have a greyish-green head, greyer on crown, and an orange-yellow breast patch. Male has a chestnut back, this is all green in the female. Similar spp. T. affinis of southern India lacks the orange-yellow breast patch and the male has a dark maroon back. Thick-billed Pigeon T. curvirostra lacks the well-defined grey crown and yellow-green brow and face, as well as having a thicker bill. Voice. Pleasant, low-pitched, mostly level whistles occasionally rising and falling; much lower pitched than T. affinis.
Text account compilers
Martin, R., Fernando, E.
Contributors
Butchart, S., Duckworth, J.W., Ekstrom, J., Goes, F., Symes, A., Taylor, J., Timmins, R.J. & Westrip, J.R.S.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Ashy-headed Green-pigeon Treron phayrei. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/ashy-headed-green-pigeon-treron-phayrei on 28/11/2024.
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 28/11/2024.