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

Taxonomic note

Trochalopteron fairbanki, T. meridionale, T. jerdoni and T. cachinnans have been moved to the new genus Montecincla after they were found to be sister to a clade composed of Heterophasia, Minla, Actinodura, Leiothrix, Liocichla and Crocias (Robin et al. 2017). They have also received new common names, and are listed as Palani Chilappan Montecincla fairbanki, Ashambu Chilappan M. meridionalis, Banasura Chilappan M. jerdoni and Nilgiri Chilappan M. cachinnans.

T. fairbanki and T. meridionale (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as Strophocincla fairbanki following Rasmussen and Anderton (2005).

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.
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2019. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 4. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v4_Dec19.zip.
Robin, V. V., Vishnudas, C. K., Gupta, P., Rheindt, F. E., Hooper, D. M., Ramakrishnan, U., & Reddy, S. 2017. Two new genera of songbirds represent endemic radiations from the Shola Sky Islands of the Western Ghats, India. BMC evolutionary biology, 17(1): 31.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)	B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii); D1

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Endangered	B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)
2016	Endangered	B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)
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	high
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	230 km2
Number of locations	5-20	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	530-1600, 530-1200 mature individuals	medium	suspected	2023
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	-
Generation length	3.61 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	4	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	40-50%	-	-	-

Population justification: The population size of this species has not been formally estimated, but this species' range comprises an area <180 km², and therefore its population size is assumed to be relatively small. The southernmost site, Vellarimala–Chembra, likely numbers >250 mature individuals (Praveen J in litt. 2016) and is therefore suspected to number 250–750 mature individuals, equivalent to a density (that accounts also for occupancy) of approximately 3–9 mature individuals/km², which is considered subjectively reasonable based on the densities of other laughingthrushes, and citizen science observations (eBird 2023). Assuming a relatively even density across its range (i.e. equivalent densities in the other three forest areas), then the total global population of this species is suspected to number c.530–1,600 mature individuals. A best estimate at the lower end of this range (530–1,200) because of reports of lower densities at some sites (Praveen J 2020).

Trend justification: Presumably much declined from historical baselines given the significant removal of habitat from within its range (see Reddy et al. [2016] for summary of forest cover changes in the Western Ghats between 1920 and 2013). There are no monitoring data from which to derive a current trend for this species, although it is precautionarily suspected to be declining, albeit at a slow rate. Habitat loss and degradation has been slow over the past decade (2013–2023) according to remote sensing data (Global Forest Watch 2023, based on data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein), although these analyses are relatively insensitive to forest degradation or modifications that don't affect the forest canopy. The greatest threat to this species is probably now fires, which have in some years destroyed significant areas of habitat (e.g., in 2018: Rajeev 2018). Given this species' high elevational range, it is possible that climate change may cause additive declines in the future.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
India	Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Camel’s Hump Mountains
India	Megamalai Mountains
India	Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Talakaveri Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Wynaad Wildlife Sanctuary

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Altitude	1600 - 2400 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(min) 1400 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Wood & pulp plantations - Agro-industry plantations	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Unknown		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Increase in fire frequency/intensity	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Banasura Chilappan Montecincla jerdoni. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/banasura-chilappan-montecincla-jerdoni 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.