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

Taxonomic note

Previously listed as Melaenornis silens (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) and before that as Sigelus silens. Genetic analyses (Voelker et al. 2016) and clear differences in behaviour and ecology favour the return of this species to a monotypic genus. Two subspecies recognized.

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2022. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	26 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	1,610,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	2.93 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The population size is unknown, but the species is described as widespread and common (del Hoyo et al. 2006). The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Botswana	extant	native	yes
Eswatini	extant	native	yes
Lesotho	extant	native	yes
Mozambique	extant	native	yes
Namibia	extant	vagrant			yes
South Africa	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Savanna	Dry	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Fiscal Flycatcher Sigelus silens. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/fiscal-flycatcher-sigelus-silens 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.