• 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. 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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Near Threatened	A2c
2016	Near Threatened	A2c+3c+4c;C1
2012	Near Threatened	A2c+3c+4c;C1
2008	Near Threatened	A2c; A3c; A4c; C1
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1994	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1988	Near Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	932,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	25000-35000 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2022
Population trend	decreasing	poor	inferred	-
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Generation length	5 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1-10	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: Approximately 6,300 km² of habitat remained in Myanmar in 2016 (De Alban et al. 2020), reduced here (in 2022) to c.5,400 km², assuming a continuing linear reduction in habitat extent at the rate estimated by De Alban et al. (2020) to have occurred between 2007 and 2016. In the Sundarbans, c.10,000 km² of suitable habitat likely remains, with approximately 3,500 km² in Thailand and Malaysia (Global Forest Watch 2022, using data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein). A total of c.19,000 km² of habitat is therefore assumed to be suitable for this species. In the Sundarbans and the Myeik Archipelago, Myanmar, Reza et al. (2003) and Zöckler (2016) respectively both estimated densities of 2.6 mature individuals/km². Assuming a high rate of habitat occupancy (50-70%) to reflect its qualitative descriptions as common (Smythies 1986, Chowdhury et al. 2020, Grimmett et al. 2021), the population is therefore estimated at 25,000-35,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The trend of this species varies across its range, but habitat loss is known to have caused local extirpations (Smythies 1986, eBird 2022).
In the Sundarbans (India and Bangladesh) there is limited anecdotal evidence that it may be declining although this has not been quantified (S. Chowdhury pers. comm. 2022). The total area of suitable habitat in the Sundarbans, Thailand and Malaysia has reduced only moderately over the past three generations, equivalent to approximately 5% (Global Forest Watch 2022, using data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein). In Myanmar however, between 2007 and 2016 the extent of mangroves declined 3.87% per annum (De Alban et al. 2020), a rate equivalent to 55% over three generations. In 2007, Myanmar probably held c.45% of the global population of Brown-winged Kingfishers, thus mangrove loss in this country alone has likely caused a global population size reduction of c.25% over the past three generations. Accounting for uncertainties, especially trends in other countries in its range, the population reduction over the past three generations is therefore set at 20-29%. However, the Burmese population accounts for an increasingly small percentage of the global population and habitat protections elsewhere (especially in the Sundarbans) are comparatively robust. The rate of reduction in the future is therefore unknown, but is thought unlikely to exceed 20%.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Bangladesh	extant	native	yes
India	extant	native	yes
Malaysia	extant	native	yes
Myanmar	extant	native	yes
Thailand	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	major	resident
Marine Intertidal	Mud Flats and Salt Flats	marginal	resident
Marine Intertidal	Rocky Shoreline	marginal	resident
Marine Intertidal	Tidepools	marginal	resident
Marine Neritic	Estuaries	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	marginal	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	marginal	resident
Altitude	0 - 50 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Marine & freshwater aquaculture - Industrial aquaculture	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		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
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

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Brown-winged Kingfisher Pelargopsis amauroptera. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/brown-winged-kingfisher-pelargopsis-amauroptera 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.