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). 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). 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). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is reported to be locally common (Keith et al. 1992).
Trend justification
The population is suspected to be in decline owing to habitat degradation caused by poor grazing practices (del Hoyo et al. 2004). Potential range declines have also been reported from Southern African Bird Atlas Project data (Lee et al. 2017), although, due to the species's nomadic nature and incomplete coverage of its range in these surveys (see Taylor et al. 2015), the rate of decline is essentially unknown.
Text account compilers
Ekstrom, J., Butchart, S., Westrip, J.
Contributors
Donald, P.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Black-eared Sparrow-lark Eremopterix australis. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/black-eared-sparrow-lark-eremopterix-australis on 22/11/2024.
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 22/11/2024.