• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• 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
-	-	C2a(i)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2016	Vulnerable	A2cd;B1ab(ii,iii,iv,v);C2a(i)
2012	Vulnerable	A2cd;B1ab(ii,iii,iv,v);C2a(i)
2008	Vulnerable	A2c,d; B1a+b(ii,iii,iv,v); C2a(i)
2006	Vulnerable
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1996	Endangered
1994	Endangered
1988	Threatened

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	high
Land-mass type	shelf island	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	11,700 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2500-9999 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2023
Population trend	decreasing	medium	inferred	-
Generation length	5.22 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	4-10	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The population size of this species has long been considered moderately small with McGowan et al. (1995) and Li Xiangtao (1996) both considering the species to number (perhaps much) less than 10,000 individuals. Surveys undertaken in the 1990s at Bawangling Nature Reserve led to a calculated density of 6-8 birds/km², which was then extrapolated to produced a total estimate of 3,900-5,200 birds across an area of c.650 km² (BirdLife International 2001). There is however evidence that Bawangling may host higher densities of Arborophila ardens than other sites. At Nanweiling Nature Reserve, for example, the species' density was calculated in 1990 as only 2.59 birds/km². Moreover, tagged birds at Bangwangling had smaller home ranges (3.87±0.42, n=13 individuals) than those at another site, Yinggeling Nature Reserve (7.70±1.04, n=9 individuals), implying the former site may host the species at a higher density; thus, the use of 6-8 birds/km² across the species' entire range may generate a population size scenario that is overly optimistic.

There is approximately 1,200 km² of suitable habitat within this species' elevational range (the value used in BirdLife International [2001] was too pessimistic). To this densities of 3-8 birds/km² are applied reflecting the uncertainty discussed above, leading to a population size of 3,600-9,600, rounded here to 2,500-9,999 reflecting some additional uncertainty regarding the number of mature individuals (vs individuals, which includes juveniles etc.).

Trend justification: Historically, this species has lost significant areas of suitable habitat in response to forest loss, and is no longer found at some localities it once occupied (BirdLife International 2001). Declines are inferred to be ongoing due to continued (albeit slowing) forest loss, which has continued to occur at the lowest elevations of its altitudinal range (Global Forest Watch 2024). The rate of decline is not set here, given considerable uncertainty about this species' tolerances (it has been described as being highly dependent on closed-canopy forest [BirdLife International 2001, Yang et al. 2023] and also tolerant of logged forest [Lewthwaite et al. 2021]), and the absence of data on the impact of hunting and egg-collecting (Rao et al. 2017). Nonetheless, given it is apparently able to persist in heavily-hunted landscapes (Lewthwaite et al. 2021), it is likely the species is declining only slowly.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
China (mainland)	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
China (mainland)	Bawangling
China (mainland)	Diaoluoshan
China (mainland)	Ganshiling
China (mainland)	Jianfengling
China (mainland)	Limushan
China (mainland)	Nanweiling
China (mainland)	Wuzhishan
China (mainland)	Yinggeling

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Altitude	200 - 1300 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Shifting agriculture	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Wood & pulp plantations - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		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%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Hainan Partridge Arborophila ardens. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/hainan-partridge-arborophila-ardens on 23/11/2024.
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 23/11/2024.