• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note

Pica pica, P. mauritanica, P. asirensis and P. hudsonia (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as P. pica following AERC TAC (2003), AOU (1998 and supplements), Christidis and Boles (2008), Cramp et al. (1977-1994) and Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

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
-	D	D1

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Endangered	D
2016	Endangered	C2a(ii)
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	low
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	19,600 km2	medium
Number of locations	11-50	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	200 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2020
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	2016-2030
Generation length	4.51 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	11-20	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The population size was previously estimated at 135 pairs or fewer (270 mature individuals) (Symes et al. 2015, Babbington 2016). However, this has been considered to be highly optimistic, and the population is considered to now only hold approximately 100 annual breeding pairs (J. Babbington and P. Roberts unpubl. data in Boland and Burwell 2020). This roughly converts to 200 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The species is thought to now be confined to small areas of high quality forest and appears to be declining, due to the species's range being heavily disturbed by land clearence, grazing, human development and disturbance, tourism activities and climate change bringing warmer and drier weather (Symes et al. 2015, Babbington 2016, Boland and Burwell 2020). However, the exact impacts and rates are currently unknown (Boland and Burwell 2020).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Saudi Arabia	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Saudi Arabia	Jabal Qaha - Lajib gorge
Saudi Arabia	Raydah escarpment
Saudi Arabia	Shallal ad-Dahna

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		suitable	resident
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Altitude	1850 - 3000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		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%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance, Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Temperature extremes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance
Human intrusions & disturbance	Work & other activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance
Residential & commercial development	Tourism & recreation areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national, international
Pets/display animals, horticulture	subsistence, national, international
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	subsistence, national, international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Asir Magpie Pica asirensis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/asir-magpie-pica-asirensis on 22/12/2024.
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 22/12/2024.