Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species is considered to be at an extremely high risk of extinction because it has a small global population size (thought to number fewer than 250 mature individuals) with no subpopulation hosting more than 20-60. It is thought to be in slow decline in response to habitat loss and degradation. Accordingly it is listed as Critically Endangered. Surveys across more of its range are urgently needed to determine whether further populations persist, and discovered populations desperately need protection.
Population justification
Difficult to estimate, but population size thought to be very small. After a long period without records (Hume 2017), the species has since been found at several localities. There are a handful of records from Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park (Chan and Setiawan 2019) and, in 2000-2001, five birds were mist-netted here at Cikaniki Research Station (Noske et al. 2011) and the species was observed on several occasions 2017-2023 (eBird 2024). The species was rediscovered at Petungkriyono forest in Central Java in 2018 (Chan and Setiawan 2019) and has been observed on several occasions since (Rachmawati et al. 2022, eBird 2024). There have also been isolated photographed records from Puncak Simpe in November 2020 and Gunung Liman/Mt Wilis in September 2022 and November 2023 (eBird 2024). A broader survey of the Sengkarang watershed (which Petungkriyono forest is part of) covering 34.2 km of transects across the five main rivers found just c. 3 pairs (per Yayasan SwaraOwa unpublished data).
While this pattern of records suggests that the species is widespread (and is certainly more widespread than the paucity of records in the early 2000s suggested), the species is evidently very rare, patchily distributed, and occurs at low density due to its linear ranges. At each of the listed sites above, there is <20 km of suitable habitat, with none likely to support more than 10 pairs (except Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park, which could conceivably support 2-3x this number). Accordingly, the minimum population size is set at 50 mature individuals. The maximum figure, 250, represents a somewhat arbitrary upper bound, accepting that while numerous sites probably remain undiscovered given the search of sightings in recent years, there remains so little habitat on Java that it is unlikely to exceed this.
Trend justification
Trend poorly known due to the species' contemporary distribution only recently being understood. However, it is evidently highly sensitive to forest loss and disturbance, with all sightings made in good habitat along undisturbed rivers, and absences from degraded habitat that at one time would have been suitable and almost certainly hosted the species. While overall forest cover loss on Java has been minimal for c. 20 years (Global Forest Watch 2024), areas along rivers continue to be cleared and degraded (Hansen et al. 2013, Grantham et al. 2020, Global Forest Watch 2024). Accordingly, A. euryzona is precautionarily inferred to be declining, although monitoring data are urgently needed to confirm whether this is the case.
The species is endemic to Java, Indonesia, where there are only scattered observations.
Recent records are from slow-flowing rocky streams and larger rivers running through evergreen forest, mostly below c.1,000 m but exceptionally to 1,500 m.
The only identified threat to this species is habitat loss and degradation, comprising the clearance and modification of forests along lowland rivers inhabited by this species. This is the result of shifting agriculture and low-level clearance for timber and, to a much lesser extent, residential and urban development.
Conservation Actions Underway
Recorded from Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park (e.g. Noske et al. 2011, eBird 2024) but most recent records lie outside Indonesia's protected area network. Yayasan SwaraOwa conducted detailed surveys November 2021-2022 in Petungkriyono and Lebakbarang districts. Listed as a protected species in Indonesia by Laws No. 5/1990 and Government Regulations No.7/1999 (Prawiradilaga 2016).
Conservation Actions Proposed
Search other areas of potentially suitable habitat on Java to clarify its distribution and, in turn, population size. Repeat surveys in Petungkriyono and Lebakbarang districts at regular time intervals to determine its population trend. Urgently designate protection to all sites where the species has been found, and ensure there are protected adequately to safeguard the species from threats. Continue to monitor habitat trends using remote sensing data.
17 cm. Robust, medium-sized river kingfisher. Dark blackish upperparts with silvery-azure streak from mantle to rump. Long, white neck-flash with rufous tip. White throat becoming yellow-buff on the sides; rest of underparts mostly pale yellow-buff in male and orange in female. Both sexes show a solid blue band across chest. Similar spp. A. peninsulae of Borneo, Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia is whiter below and the pale blue breast band in the male is mottled white, while the female shows no breast band and is a brighter orange below. Common Kingfisher A. atthis smaller, greenish-blue above, lacking breast-band.
Text account compilers
Berryman, A.
Contributors
Aik, Y.C., Cahyono, H., Cooleman, S., Cox, B., Davison, G., Yong, D., van Balen, B.S., Westrip, J.R.S., Symes, A., Martin, R., Taylor, J., Tobias, J., Bird, J., Ashpole, J & Benstead, P.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Javan Blue-banded Kingfisher Alcedo euryzona. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/javan-blue-banded-kingfisher-alcedo-euryzona on 22/12/2024.
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 22/12/2024.