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

Taxonomic note

Graminicola bengalensis and G. striatus (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as G. bengalensis following Sibley & 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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Near Threatened	C2a(i)
2016	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	1,550,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2500-9999 mature individuals	poor	suspected	2021
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	2014-2024
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	5-10%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	5-10%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	5-10%	-	-	-
Generation length	2.58 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The species has recently been re-found in Myanmar (Eaton et al. 2014), but the population there is assumed to be very low (Leader et al. 2010) and Eaton et al. (2014) reported the species for the first time in Cambodia where the population is estimated to be at least 250 mature individuals (S. Mahood in litt. 2018). Extensive surveys have been undertaken in south-east China, which generated records from Gaungxi and Guangdong (Lee et al. 2006; Leader et al. 2010): of 175 sites surveyed across south-east China, only 33 birds at 14 sites were detected (five in Guangdong, nine from Guangxi) suggesting that the species is very scarce and localised (Zheng et al. 2021). In Hong Kong, the population has been estimated at 50-100 pairs (Leader et al. 2010) or maybe 490 individuals (So et al. 2012). Overall, the population is suspected to comprise fewer than 10,000 mature individuals, and is placed in the range 2,500-10,000. The largest known subpopulation is in Hong Kong, where up to 490 individuals have been estimated.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be undergoing a slow decline as land is converted to agriculture, as well due to regeneration of shrubland, tree planting and grazing leading to a decrease in the amount of suitable grassland for this species (Leader et al. 2010).The species has become extinct in Vietnam and Thailand, principally a result of draining and wetlands, while populations in Myanmar and Cambodia now remain exceptionally disjunct. Ecological niche modelling (Zheng et al. 2021) has indicated that the total area of suitable habitat in south-east China (where the species is most widespread) for this species has declined by 18.9% over 20 years, which is equivalent to c.9% over ten years. It is estimated that this decline will continue (Zheng et al. 2021).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Cambodia	extant	native	yes
China (mainland)	extant	native	yes
Hong Kong (China)	extant	native	yes
Myanmar	extant	native	yes
Thailand	extinct	native	yes
Vietnam	extinct	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally Wet/Flooded	major	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	major	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 900 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

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 - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Natural system modifications	Dams & water management/use - Abstraction of surface water (domestic use)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Increase in fire frequency/intensity	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: Chinese Grass-babbler Graminicola striatus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/chinese-grass-babbler-graminicola-striatus 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.