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

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	A3c+4c
2016	Near Threatened	C1
2012	Near Threatened	C2a(ii)
2008	Near Threatened	C2a(ii)
2007	Near Threatened
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	741,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	10000-19999 mature individuals	medium	inferred	2012
Population trend	decreasing	-	inferred	2017-2027
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	5-15%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-25%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-25%	-	-	-
Generation length	3.07 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	4-20	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: Arabuko-Sokoke Forest in Kenya is believed to support c.7,500 pairs or around 15,000 mature individuals. Zanzibar is thought to host 100 pairs (L. Hansen in litt. 2021). Other subpopulations in Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique are not thought to be large. Hence the global population is best treated as moderately small, at 10,000-19,999 mature individuals. This equates to 15,000-29,999 individuals in total.

Trend justification: The population is inferred to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction. Remote-sensing data suggests that this species's range lost 9.7% of forest cover between 2010-2020 (Global Forest Watch 2021). Between 2017-2020, the range lost 4.2% of forest cover (Global Forest Watch 2021), equivalent to 10.2% when projected forward over 10 years. With the additional habitat degradation and the removal of dead logs and moss (P. Matiku in litt. 2021; J. John in litt. 2021), it is suspected that the species may experience declines in the range of 20-25% over three generations in the future.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Malawi	extant	native	yes
Mozambique	extant	native	yes
Tanzania	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Kenya	Arabuko-Sokoke Forest
Kenya	Lower Tana River Forests
Kenya	Shimba Hills
Malawi	Lake-shore Forest Reserves
Malawi	South Viphya Forest Reserve
Mozambique	Mount Mabu
Mozambique	Zambezi River Delta
Tanzania	East Usambara Mountains
Tanzania	Jozani Forest
Tanzania	Kisarawe District Coastal Forests
Tanzania	Lindi District Coastal Forests
Tanzania	Nguu Mountains
Tanzania	Pande Game Reserve and Dondwe Coastal Forests

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	marginal	unknown
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 1750 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
		Future		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder 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: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Loxodonta cyclotis	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: East Coast Akalat Sheppardia gunningi. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/east-coast-akalat-sheppardia-gunningi 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.