• Summary
• Text account
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Justification of Red List category
This species has a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km² combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as rare to frequent in two disjunct areas in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (del Hoyo et al. 2006).

Trend justification
The population is suspected to be in decline owing to habitat loss and degradation. There is also evidence that the species may be susceptible to local poaching for food (Kizungu 2011). Tree cover loss within the range is currently estimated at 13% across ten years (Global Forest Watch 2021, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). Assuming that population declines are roughly equivalent to the rate of forest loss for this highly forest-dependent species, it may be declining at <20% over ten years.

Terpsiphone bedfordi is endemic to the Democratic Republic of Congo where it occurs as two disjunct populations, one in north-eastern Ituri and the other west of Itombwe (Urban et al. 1997). Further studies may reveal this species to be conspecific with Red-bellied Paradise-flycatcher T. rufiventer (Dowsett and Dowsett-Lemaire 1993); the two are known to hybridise wherever they meet (Prigogine 1980), although they may differ ecologically (del Hoyo et al. 2006).

The species mainly occurs in lowland and transitional forest at altitudes of 980-1,500 m, and exceptionally in montane forest up to 1,800 m (and there have been observations down to 820 m [Kizungu 2005]). It prefers primary evergreen forest where it is rare to frequent, and is occasionally found in deciduous forest (Urban et al. 1997). It feeds on a variety of insects, including bugs, moths and grasshoppers, often foraging in the lower understorey, and avoiding the upper storey and canopy, unlike T. rufiventer (del Hoyo et al. 2006). In Itombwe, the species breeds throughout the year. It is monogamous and territorial. One nest has been described for this species, in which two eggs had been laid, and there is further evidence for clutches to normally contain 2 eggs (Kizungu 2005). It was a deep, well-made open cup of moss, lined with fine grasses (del Hoyo et al. 2006).

The consequences of recent warfare within its range is likely to have increased the rate of deforestation (Kanyamibwa 1995), principally due to clearance for shifting cultivation, and there is some evidence that this species may be poached for subsistence (Kizungu 2005). This and its apparent inability to survive in secondary forest put it at long-term risk.

Conservation Actions Underway
No targeted conservation action is known for this species.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Conduct surveys to assess the population size. Monitor population trends through regular surveys. Monitor rates of habitat loss and degradation within its range. Protect areas of suitable habitat (e.g. Kizungu 2005).

Text account compilers
Rotton, H.

Contributors
Kizungu, R., O'Brien, A., Robertson, P., Symes, A., Taylor, J. & Westrip, J.R.S.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Bedford's Paradise-flycatcher Terpsiphone bedfordi. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/bedfords-paradise-flycatcher-terpsiphone-bedfordi on 23/12/2024.
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 23/12/2024.