• 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. 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
2021	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	full migrant	Forest dependency	low
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	10,600,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	10,300,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	20000-49999 mature individuals	-	suspected	2000
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	5.3 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population is estimated at well over 10,000 pairs which equates to 20,000 mature individuals (Thiollay 2000). The species is reported to be generally common and locally abundant in some areas (Ferguson-Lees & Christie 2001), outnumbering all other raptors except Black Kite Milvus migrans (Thiollay 2000). It is placed in the band 20,000-49,999 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be in decline locally owing to over-grazing and drought (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001). A decline in non-breeding visitors to Kenya has been observed (Thiollay 2000). A decline in individuals counted during the dry season was also observed in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger during 1969-2004, although it should be noted that this may be due to differences in the timing of migration between years rather than a population decline (Thiollay 2006).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Benin	extant	native		yes	yes
Burkina Faso	extant	native		yes	yes
Burundi	extant	vagrant			yes
Cameroon	extant	native		yes	yes
Central African Republic	extant	native		yes	yes
Chad	extant	native		yes	yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native			yes
Côte d'Ivoire	extant	native			yes
Djibouti	extant	native			yes
Eritrea	extant	native		yes
Ethiopia	extant	native		yes	yes
Gambia	extant	native		yes
Ghana	extant	native			yes
Guinea	extant	native		yes	yes
Guinea-Bissau	extant	native		yes	yes
Kenya	extant	native			yes
Liberia	extant	vagrant			yes
Mali	extant	native		yes	yes
Mauritania	extant	native		yes
Niger	extant	native		yes
Nigeria	extant	native		yes	yes
Rwanda	extant	vagrant			yes
Senegal	extant	native		yes
Sierra Leone	extant	native			yes
Somalia	extant	native			yes
South Sudan	extant	native		yes	yes
Sudan	extant	native		yes
Tanzania	extant	native			yes
Togo	extant	native			yes
Uganda	extant	native			yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Savanna	Dry	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 1200 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
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
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
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, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence
Medicine - human & veterinary	subsistence
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Grasshopper Buzzard Butastur rufipennis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/grasshopper-buzzard-butastur-rufipennis 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.