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

Taxonomic source(s)
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
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
A2bcd+4bcd	A2bcd+4bcd	A2bcd+4bcd

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Vulnerable	A2bcd+4bcd
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)	5,160,000 km2
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	17,400,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	inferred	2011-2023
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-90,30-49%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-90,30-49%	-	-	-
Generation length	4.08 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is reported to be locally frequent and common to uncommon (del Hoyo et al. 2001). Given its extensive range and reports that the species is locally common, the population size is not thought to approach 10,000 individuals.

Trend justification:

Data from South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore indicate this species has declined rapidly over the past three generations (12.3 years; Bird et al. 2020), while data from India indicate it may be declining there too.

Modelling the broad-scale occupancy trends between 1997-2005 and 2013-2019 using South Korean national bird survey data revealed a 95% decline, equating to 91% over three generations (Kim et al. 2021). Atlases of Hong Kong avifauna show that in the breeding season, the number of grids where the species was encountered dropped from 2.4% to 0.1% from 1993-1996 to 2016-2019. In the winter, they dropped from 2.4% to 0.2% from 2001-2005 to 2016-2019 (HKBWS 2020).  This is equivalent to breeding season and winter occupancy rates decreasing by 82% and 87% respectively within three generations. However, it is unclear whether the causes of these reductions are globally applicable, with Hong Kong becoming substantially more forested (with less suitable habitat for this species) over the past three generations, which is not true of elsewhere in its range. In Singapore, based on count data over 26 years, the population is estimated to have declined at an equivalent rate of c.50% over three generations (Yong D.L. in litt. 2022).

Data from India are unclear. The modelled reporting rate in 2014/2015 relative to before 2000 is reported to be 85% lower, although the citizen science data used (eBird) are spatially and temporally variable, the confidence intervals of the outputs are broad, and the rate of decline is considered non-significant (SoIB 2020). The reporting rate over the five-year span from 2014/15 to 2018/19 is also uncertain, with no significant change apparent (SoIB 2020).

Given the variability of the above trends which provide insight into only a small proportion of the entire range, the population-wide decline over the past three generations is suspected to be greater than 30%, but may be considerably higher. The rate of future decline is not estimated here given the uncertainties of the principal acting threat.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Bangladesh	extant	native			yes
Brunei	extant	native			yes
Cambodia	extant	native			yes
China (mainland)	extant	native		yes
Hong Kong (China)	extant	native	yes
India	extant	native		yes
Indonesia	extant	vagrant
Japan	extant	vagrant
Laos	extant	native		yes	yes
Malaysia	extant	native			yes
Myanmar	extant	native		yes	yes
Nepal	extant	vagrant
North Korea	extant	native		yes
Pakistan	extant	vagrant
Philippines	extant	native			yes
Russia	extant	vagrant
Russia (Asian)	extant	vagrant
Singapore	extant	native			yes
South Korea	extant	native		yes
Sri Lanka	extant	vagrant
Taiwan, China	extant	vagrant
Thailand	extant	native			yes
Vietnam	extant	native			yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	major	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	major	breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	breeding
Forest	Temperate	major	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Brackish/Saline Lagoons/Marine Lakes	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Brackish/Saline Lagoons/Marine Lakes	suitable	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Freshwater Lakes	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Freshwater Lakes	suitable	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Rocky Shoreline	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Intertidal	Rocky Shoreline	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Estuaries	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Estuaries	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	breeding
Altitude	0 - 1525 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Unintentional effects (species is not the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Natural system modifications	Other ecosystem modifications	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Black-capped Kingfisher Halcyon pileata. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/black-capped-kingfisher-halcyon-pileata 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.