• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Climate Change maps
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	C2a(i)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2016	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2012	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2008	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	99,500 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2300-3500 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2000
Population trend	decreasing	poor	inferred	2016-2026
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-10%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-10%	-	-	-
Generation length	3.27 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	4	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification:

As this species is described as uncommon to rare, taking the lower quartiles of density estimates of eight congeners, including the Southern Masked-weaver Ploceus velatus of 2-3 individuals/sqkm (BirdLife Population Density Spreadsheet; Vernon 1985; Dean 1995; Monadjem 2002), and assuming it inhabits 10% of the forest within its range (17,300 sqkm [Global Forest Watch 2021]), the population is estimated to fall in the band 3,460-5,190 individuals. This is roughly equivalent to 2,306-3,460 mature individuals rounded here to 2,300-3,500 mature individuals. 

Trend justification: This species is inferred to be declining due to the ongoing loss and degradation of its mangrove and forest habitats (Okanga-Guay et al. 2019; Global Forest Watch 2021). Between 2000-2019, this species experienced forest cover loss of 5.3% (Global Forest Watch 2021), which equates to a rate of loss of 2.8% over 10 years. Adjonina et al. (2014) report that during the last 2 decades prior to 2014, mangroves in West and Central Africa were degraded or reduced by 20-30% due to pollution and over-exploitation. Assuming that this is still occurring at the same rate, the rate of decline may be 10-16% over 10 years. This species is not entirely dependent on mangrove forests, so the past rate of decline is suspected to fall in the band of 1-19%. Between 2016-2019, this species experienced forest cover loss of 1.6% throughout its range (Global Forest Watch 2021). This would equate to a loss of 4% when projected forward 10 years from 2016. The suspected future decline is therefore placed in the 1-10% band.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Angola	extant	native	yes
Congo	extant	native	yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native	yes
Gabon	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Angola	Maiombe
Congo	Lower Kouilou basin
Gabon	Akanda
Gabon	Gamba Protected Areas Complex
Gabon	Ogooué delta and Mandji island

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Swamp	major	resident
Savanna	Dry	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Altitude		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		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Natural system modifications	Other ecosystem modifications	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Pollution	Domestic & urban waste water - Type Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Pollution	Industrial & military effluents - Oil spills	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 3
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Loango Weaver Ploceus subpersonatus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/loango-weaver-ploceus-subpersonatus 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.