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

Taxonomic note

Calliope obscura (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) was previously placed in the genus Luscinia following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

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
-	-	C2a(i)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2020	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2016	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2013	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2012	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2008	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Threatened

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type	continent	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	223,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	16,600 km2	medium
Number of locations	11-100	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2500-9999 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2000
Population trend	decreasing	poor	inferred	2014-2024
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Generation length	2.4 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-100	-	-	-

Population justification: The population is estimated to number 2,500-9,999 mature individuals. This number is based on an analysis of records by BirdLife International (2001), who noted that the species is probably highly localised in distribution and could have a small total population, i.e. fewer than 10,000 individuals. The estimate equates to 3,750-14,999 individuals in total, rounded here to 3,500-15,000 individuals. This estimate is retained, despite the recent discovery of previously unknown breeding sites in the Qinling Mountains (Davies 2011, Song et al. 2014) and presence of vast areas of similar habitat (P. Alström in litt. 2012), as the species still appears to be scarce and localised. There remains no substantive evidence that the population exceeds 10,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: Although much of the species's potential breeding habitat does not appear to be highly threatened by logging and conversion to agriculture (P. Alström in litt. 2012), the population is precautionarily thought to be declining at a slow to moderate rate of 1-19% over three generations, owing to continuing habitat loss and degradation within its breeding and presumed wintering grounds.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
China (mainland)	extant	native		yes
Thailand	extant	native			yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
China (mainland)	Baihe Nature Reserve
China (mainland)	Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve
China (mainland)	Taibai Shan Nature Reserve
China (mainland)	Wolong Nature Reserve

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	non-breeding
Forest	Temperate	major	breeding
Shrubland	Temperate	suitable	passage
Altitude	2100 - 3350 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(min) 400 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Residential & commercial development	Tourism & recreation areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Blackthroat Calliope obscura. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/blackthroat-calliope-obscura on 25/11/2024.
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 25/11/2024.