Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species has seen large portions of its range converted from low-lying forest (on which it depends) to agriculture, and this is inferred to have caused a moderately rapid reduction in its population size. It is therefore listed as Vulnerable.
Population justification
The population size of this species has not formally been estimated, however it appears to be generally rare and confined to primary forest and is preliminarily suspected to fall into the band of 10,000-19,999 mature individuals.
Trend justification
This lowland forest specialist is inferred to be declining rapidly because of pervasive forest loss within its range which largely has consisted of total clearance or conversion to oil palm plantations, neither of which this species persists in. Forest cover loss in its elevational and geographic range in the three generations (15.3 years; Bird et al. 2020) to 2021 has been approximately 25% (Global Forest Watch [2022] using data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein). This rate is suspected to continue into the future with little sign of abatement. As a forest dependent species, this is the absolute minimum suspected population reduction. In addition, degradation and fragmentation is suspected to have driven further reduction (the species is conspicuously absent from smaller forest blocks [eBird 2022]), though this is unquantified. Hunting remains an additive threat at least locally, with one study (Symes et al. 2018) even postulating these impacts may be reducing the population size by up to 17% over a shorter three-generation time period of 12.6 (vs 15.3) years. Accounting for uncertainties, the species is suspected to have suffered a population reduction of 30-49% over the past three generations and this rate is suspected to continue into the future.
Treron capellei occurs from peninsular Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia to Borneo (including Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia, and Kalimantan, Indonesia), and the Indonesian island of Sumatra (BirdLife International 2001). It was once widely distributed and at least locally very common, but serious declines have taken place, such that it is now highly local and scarce. There are no recent records from Java (eBird 2022). In the early twentieth century, flocks of 200–300 birds were reported as normal in Peninsular Malaysia (BirdLife International 2001). Regular flocks of 20-30 birds in Taman Negara, and reports that it remains locally common in Belum Temenggor, suggest that sizable populations may still persist within large forest blocks in Malaysia (Yeap Chin Aik in litt. 2007, Iqbal et al. 2012). The species was absent from several recent surveys in Kalimantan (eg. Meier 2005, Brickle et al. 2010, Sheldon et al. 2010), or recorded in small numbers (Slik and Balen 2006, Wielstra and Pieterse 2009, Wielstra et al. 2011, Woxvold and Noske 2011, Wielstra et al. 2012). However, 48 birds were reported roosting on the edge of secondary forest in East Kalimantan in November 2011 and up to 25 were seen at a logging concession in Melawi district, west Kalimantan in March 2011 (Iqbal et al. 2012). At least 50 birds were observed inside the Danum Valley conservation area, Sabah in May 2009 (Iqbal et al. 2012). Little is known about its status on Sumatra, where most lowland forest has now been totally cleared, but reports of flocks of 40+ in Way Kambas National Park in May 2006 (Iqbal and Iqbal 2012) and of 15 on the Kenpar Peninsula in July 2020 (eBird 2022) indicates populations persist here too, but perhaps only in large forest blocks.
It inhabits primary and logged evergreen rainforest, almost exclusively in the lowlands, rarely ascending foothills to 1,500 m but typically below 600 m. Small flocks visit fruiting trees (usually figs Ficus spp.) and are generally encountered high in the canopy. It is largely sedentary, although populations may fluctuate in response to fruiting cycles, and nocturnal movements have been noted.
Lowland forests across Sundaland have been dramatically reduced in extent and quality by human activities such as logging and plantation agriculture (especially oil palm). Forest fires are also a more moderate threat. Hunting is thought to be a more localised threat, but may impact isolated populations in moderately small forest fragments.
Conservation Actions Underway
It has been recorded in several protected areas, including Taman Negara (Malaysia), Gunung Palung and Tanjung Puting National Parks (Kalimantan), Gunung Leuser and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Parks (Sumatra), and Gunung Mulu (Sarawak).
36 cm. Large, arboreal pigeon. Male is generally greyish-green, paler below, with dark golden patch on chest, blackish-grey wings, fringed yellow. Undertail-coverts dark chestnut. Yellow legs. Female has yellow chest patch. Similar spp. Female Thick-billed Green-pigeon T. curvirostra is smaller, lacks coloured patch on chest, undertail-coverts green-and-white, legs reddish. Voice Deep, rich growling notes and kak-kak or kwok-kwok.
Text account compilers
Berryman, A.
Contributors
Aik, Y.C. & Davison, G.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Large Green-pigeon Treron capellei. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/large-green-pigeon-treron-capellei 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.