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

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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Near Threatened	B1b(iii)
2016	Data Deficient
2012	Data Deficient
2008	Data Deficient
2006	Vulnerable
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Threatened

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	high
Land-mass type	shelf island	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	3,500 km2	medium
Number of locations	20-100	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	-
Generation length	3.05 years	-	-	-

Population justification: For more than 170 years, this species was known from only a single specimen (Butchart et al. 2005, Collar 2014). By some authors it was even posited to be extinct (Clements 1991). It was rediscovered in 2020 (Akbar et al. 2020), and later found to be relatively common in areas of limestone karst in south-east Borneo (Kalimantan) (Akbar et al. 2021, 2022; eBird 2023). While its population size has not been estimated, the area of limestone karst is not large, and the species may have a relatively small population size.

Trend justification: The majority of habitat suitable for this species' lies in rugged and untouched limestone forest. Although Akbar et al. (2021) expressed concern about land conversion into oil palm plantations, this is almost never achieved on karst habitats and remote sensing data indicate minimal forest cover loss in suitable habitat in its range (Global Forest Watch 2023, based on data from Hansen et al. [2013]); while there may additionally be localised degradation of limestone forests, these are likely to be causing only marginal declines. A more conspicuous threat, however, is that of quarrying/mining, with evidence from remote sensing data (Google Earth 2023) that at least one area of suitable habitat has been mostly destroyed. Akbar et al. (2021) also identify trapping as a potential threat, although this is so far considered hypothetical, with no evidence yet of the species in markets, and acknowledgement that babblers are generally not targeted. Considering all mentioned threats together, it is precautionarily suspected that this species is declining; while the rate of this is not estimated, it is thought to be only very slow. Nonetheless, monitoring of remote sensing and market data should continue to ensure that threats do not become more acute, and rates of decline accelerate.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Indonesia	Kayan Mentarang

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		major	resident
Altitude	0 - 500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Trend Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Black-browed Babbler Malacocincla perspicillata. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/black-browed-babbler-malacocincla-perspicillata 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.