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Taxonomic note

Previously (Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International 2022) placed in the genus Lonchura following Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993); Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993), then later in Odontospiza (del Hoyo and Collar 2016), but moved to current genus following Olsson and Alström (2020). Original species name caniceps became preoccupied when species placed in Lonchura; as replacement by new name griseicapilla took place before 1961, original name permanently invalid (ICZN 1999). Monotypic.

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2023. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 8. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v8_Dec23.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	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	1,250,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	2.26 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as common, locally common or uncommon (Clement 1999). 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
Ethiopia	extant	native	yes
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Somalia	extant	native			yes
South Sudan	extant	native	yes
Sudan	extant	native	yes
Tanzania	extant	native	yes
Uganda	extant	native			yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Ethiopia	Dawa - Wachile
Ethiopia	Omo National Park
Ethiopia	Yabello Sanctuary
Kenya	Amboseli National Park
Kenya	Lake Baringo
Kenya	Meru National Park
Kenya	Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves
Kenya	Shaba National Reserve
Kenya	Tsavo East National Park
Kenya	Tsavo West National Park
South Sudan	Imatong mountains
South Sudan	Kidepo
Tanzania	Lake Manyara
Tanzania	Longido Game Controlled Area
Tanzania	Mkomazi National Park
Tanzania	Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Tanzania	Nyumba ya Mungu reservoir
Tanzania	Ruaha National Park
Tanzania	Serengeti National Park
Tanzania	Tarangire National Park
Tanzania	Usangu flats

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	resident
Savanna	Dry	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Grey-headed Silverbill Spermestes griseicapilla. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/grey-headed-silverbill-spermestes-griseicapilla on 23/12/2024.
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 23/12/2024.