• 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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Near Threatened	C2a(ii)
2016	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2012	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2008	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1996	Data Deficient
1994	Data Deficient
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)	314,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2500-19999,5000-9999 mature individuals	poor	inferred	2020
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	2016-2040
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	5-15%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	5-15%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	5-15%	-	-	-
Generation length	8.1 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: The area mapped (which accounts for suitable habitat and altitude) for this species encompasses c.156,000 km². No density estimates of this species have been recorded, but Ferguson-Lees and Christie (2001) suggested a density of one pair/100 km² (accounting for density and occupancy) recorded for S. cheela was appropriate to generate a global population estimate for the latter, equivalent here to c.3,120 mature individuals if applied to S. kinabaluensis. However, Ferguson-Lees and Christie (2001) also acknowledged that home ranges of S. cheela as small as 5-6 km² had been recorded in optimum habitat. Applying this density to the range of S. kinabaluensis with a 30% occupancy gives a much greater value of 18,720 mature individuals. For these reasons, the population is suspected to comprise 2,500-19,999 mature individuals, with a most likely figure of 5,000-9,999 mature individuals. However, there is substantial uncertainty in this figure and acquiring species-specific density estimates should be considered a research priority. More qualitatively, the species is described as scarce in Sabah, but fairly common in Sarawak and Kalimantan (Eaton et al. 2021).

Trend justification: A population decline is suspected because of ongoing forest loss in its range. This species is highly forest dependent and is suspected to be declining at the same rate as forest loss; rates of forest cover loss have averaged c.9-11% over the last three generations [24 years; Bird et al. 2020] (Global Forest Watch [2021], using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein) and this rate is suspected to continue into the future, although may in time begin to slow as higher altitude forest is less accessible.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Brunei	extant	native	yes
Indonesia	extant	native	yes
Malaysia	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Brunei	Ulu Temburong
Malaysia	Crocker Range
Malaysia	Dulit Range
Malaysia	Kelabit Highlands
Malaysia	Mount Kinabalu
Malaysia	Mulu - Buda Protected Area
Malaysia	Trus Madi Range

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Altitude	1100 - 2900 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(min) 750 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	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
		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		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
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Kinabalu Serpent-eagle Spilornis kinabaluensis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/kinabalu-serpent-eagle-spilornis-kinabaluensis on 22/11/2024.
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 22/11/2024.