• 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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	16,400,000 km2
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	19,000,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	20000-49999 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2021
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	2016-2029
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	5-15%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	10-20%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	10-20%	-	-	-
Generation length	7.8 years	-	-	-

Population justification: According to the current range map, the area of this species’s resident range is 5,850,542 km². Based on a possible population density of 1 pair/50 km² (J. Bradly in litt. 2021), and given that only a small portion of its range is likely to be occupied (assumed here at 10-20%), the population may number 23,402 – 46,804 mature individuals. In the absence of other data, the population is therefore placed in the band 20,000 – 49,999 mature individuals.

Trend justification: During the years 2001-2019, 8.5% of forest cover was lost across this species's range (Global Forest Watch 2021), equating to a loss of 10% over three generations (23.4 years [Bird et al. 2021]). During the years 2016-2019, 3% of forest cover was lost (Global Forest Watch 2021), equivalent to 16% when projected forward over three generations. However, this species prefers smaller woodland fragments and is absent from large areas of dense forest (J. Bradley in litt. 2021). It can also utilise plantations, as well as savannas and urban areas, therefore it is assumed to decline at a slower rate that forest loss alone. It may also be increasing in Kenya (S. Hatfield, S. Kapila, S. Thomsett, C. Jackson, G. Vande weghe, Z. Cockar, S. Shema and D. Ogada in litt. 2021), and in urban areas it may have benefited from the increase in mature stands of exotic trees and the availability of feral pigeons as prey (W. Goodwin in litt. 2021). 

The species is subjected to direct persecution in the south of their non-breeding range (Kemp and Boesman 2013). While the rates of persecution are unknown, this is a small part of the range, and therefore the overall rate of decline is suspected to be <20% over three generations.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Angola	extant	native	yes
Benin	extant	native		yes
Botswana	extant	native	yes
Cameroon	extant	native	yes
Chad	extant	native			yes
Congo	extant	native	yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native	yes
Côte d'Ivoire	extant	native	yes
Ethiopia	extant	native	yes
Gabon	extant	native	yes
Ghana	extant	native	yes
Guinea	extant	native	yes
Guinea-Bissau	extant	vagrant
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Liberia	extant	native	yes
Malawi	extant	native	yes
Mozambique	extant	native	yes
Nigeria	extant	native	yes		yes
Rwanda	extant	native	yes
Senegal	extant	vagrant
Sierra Leone	extant	native	yes
Somalia	extant	vagrant
South Africa	extant	native			yes
South Sudan	extant	vagrant			yes
Sudan	extant	vagrant
Tanzania	extant	native	yes
Uganda	extant	native	yes
Zambia	extant	native	yes
Zimbabwe	extant	native	yes		yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	suitable	resident
Forest	Temperate	suitable	resident
Savanna	Dry	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 3000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Persecution/control	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Motivation Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Ayres's Hawk-eagle Hieraaetus ayresii. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/ayress-hawk-eagle-hieraaetus-ayresii on 26/12/2024.
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 26/12/2024.