Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This poorly-known species qualifies as Vulnerable because it is thought to have a small population, which is inferred to be in decline as a result of on-going habitat loss and degradation.
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.
Calliope obscura breeds in the mountains of western China (B. King in litt. 2012), where it was, until recently, known only from a handful of scattered records from Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi, together with several presumed non-breeding records from southern China and northern Thailand. A survey in 2011 reported 14 males in two breeding areas in the Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi province; with 24 males and 2 females found in 2012 (Davies 2011, Song et al. 2014). Seven males were recorded each in Foping and Changqing national nature reserves during the study (Davies 2011, Song et al. 2014). Three previously unknown specimens of this species, collected at a new locality in Gansu, have also recently been identified (Alström et al. 2016). The results of the 2011 survey, as well as the paucity of records, suggests that it probably has a localised distribution and a small population. Numerous recent surveys of potentially suitable sites in southern Sichuan have failed to record this species (S. Dowell in litt. 2007).
Its habitat requirements and altitudinal range are poorly known. In Gansu, there are historical records from bamboo thickets on the tops of ridges dividing valleys at 3,050-3,350 m. More recent records in Sichuan are from temperate zone forest. Almost all of the individuals found during the 2011 survey in Shaanxi were on mountain slopes at c. 2,100-2,500 m in large, dense expanses of bamboo in open coniferous and mixed coniferous-broadleaved forest (Davies 2011, P. Alström in litt. 2012, Song et al. 2014). Outside the breeding season, it has been recorded at 400 m in Thailand.
The main threat is likely to be the loss and fragmentation of forest. Forest cover has declined rapidly in Sichuan since the late 1960s, through exploitation for timber and clearance for cultivation and pasture, and substantial areas of temperate forest have been lost. Nong Bong Khai, Thailand, supported significant areas of secondary forest when the species was collected there, but the area has since been completely deforested for intensive agriculture and tourism. The building of new roads in the area around Wolong National Nature Reserve means this area has also been opened up for tourism development (S. Francis in litt. 2016). At the elevations and in the steep terrain where this species was found in the Qinling Mountains during the 2011 survey, there is said to be extremely little conversion of forest to agriculture, and although logging is a potential problem, very large areas are protected in this region (P. Alström in litt. 2012).
Conservation Actions Underway
CMS Appendix II. It is legally protected in Thailand. In China, a number of protected areas established for Giant Panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca contain suitable habitat, but the species's distribution and abundance in these areas is poorly known. It has been recorded from Wuyipeng (Wolong National Nature Reserve [S. Francis in litt. 2016]), Jiuzhaigou and Baihe nature reserves (Sichuan) and Taibai Shan National Nature Reserve (Shaanxi). The survey in 2011 recorded seven males each in Foping and Changqing national nature reserves (Davies 2011, Song et al. 2014).
12.5-14.5 cm. Small, skulking robin. Male has black throat and breast and white rest of underparts, dull dark blue upperparts, white basal two-thirds to outer tail feathers and dark legs and feet. Similar spp. Male Siberian Blue Robin L. cyane has white throat and breast. Female has buffish underparts, white undertail-coverts, more buff-coloured tail and paler pinkish legs. Voice Song rather shrill phrases whr'ri-whr'ri and chu'ti-chu'ti alternated with purring trills, hdrriiii-ju'ju and uu ji'uu. Also soft, subdued tup contact notes.
Text account compilers
Fernando, E.
Contributors
Alstrom, P., Benstead, P., Derhé, M., Dowell, S., Francis, S., Gilroy, J., Khwaja, N., King, B., Taylor, J. & Wheatley, H.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Blackthroat Calliope obscura. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/blackthroat-calliope-obscura 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.