• 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.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Near Threatened	C2a(i)
2016	Near Threatened	C2a(i)
2012	Near Threatened	C2a(i)
2008	Near Threatened	C2a(i)
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1994	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	692,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2100-5400 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2024
Population trend	decreasing	poor	inferred	-
Generation length	4.11 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-5	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: Poorly known, but evidently rare and highly localised, notwithstanding its low detectability. Boyla and Estrada (2005) estimated the global population size to number fewer than 10,000 birds, but a review of available records and effort by Lesterhuis et al. (in prep.) led them to conclude the population probably numbers 3,000-6,000 individuals. A majority of these individuals are assumed to be mature, given counts are based largely on detections of displaying birds. Assuming 0.7-0.9 of these are mature, this suggests a global population size of 2,100-5,400 mature individuals. However, this is based on very few data, and at some sites it is evidently not very rare; e.g., in Ecuador 4-5 were found displaying within 1.6 km² of suitable ridge-top habitat (Terborgh and Weske 1972).

Trend justification: Inferred to be declining due to habitat loss and degradation, and perhaps other threats not yet elucidated. Forest cover loss within this species' range has been minimal over the past three generations (Global Forest Watch 2024), but degradation is thought to be ongoing, and there are reportedly several areas where the species was previously recorded that no longer hold good habitat (D. C. Heredia in litt. 2024).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Colombia	extant	native	yes
Ecuador	extant	native	yes
Peru	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Ecuador	Bosque Protector Colambo-Yacuri
Ecuador	Mindo and western foothills of Volcan Pichincha
Ecuador	Parque Nacional Cayambe-Coca
Ecuador	Parque Nacional Llanganates
Ecuador	Parque Nacional Podocarpus
Ecuador	Reserva Ecológica Cotacachi-Cayapas
Ecuador	Reserva Ecológica Los Illinizas y alrededores
Peru	Cerro Chinguela

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	major	resident
Altitude	2745 - 3700 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
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
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
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Increase in fire frequency/intensity	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Imperial Snipe Gallinago imperialis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/imperial-snipe-gallinago-imperialis 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.