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

Taxonomic note

Coua cristata and C. pyropyga (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously lumped as C. cristata following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

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	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2014	Least Concern
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	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	562,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	2007-2022
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	10-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	10-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	10-19%	-	-	-
Generation length	4.81 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is reported to be widespread and locally common (del Hoyo et al. 1997, Safford and Hawkins 2013).

Trend justification: The species is suspected to have undergone declines owing to habitat loss and degradation and hunting pressure (Safford and Hawkins 2013). Over three generations (14.43 years), tree cover loss within the range is currently estimated at rates of between 30 and 40% (Global Forest Watch 2021, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). However, large parts of the range are secure in several protected areas, and the species can persist in degraded forest (Safford and Hawkins 2013), so tree cover loss alone is unlikely to be driving an equivalent population decline. Although local hunting pressure can be high (Kirwan et al. 2020), the species remains common or even abundant in many areas. Therefore, the suspected likely rate of reduction is 10-19%.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Madagascar	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	resident
Savanna	Dry	suitable	resident
Savanna	Moist	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 800 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(max) 1150 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		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Motivation Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Crested Coua Coua cristata. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/crested-coua-coua-cristata on 26/12/2024.
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 26/12/2024.