Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
The species is suspected to be undergoing a rapid decline due to the dual and connected impacts of hunting and habitat loss through deforestation and forest degradation. It is at high risk from hunting impacts, and the majority of its range is accessible to hunters following fragmentation of previously intact forest and the development of roads. Rates of forest loss in the hill forest now thought to hold the bulk of the population are expected to increase in the near future: measurable loss from remote sensing has been 24% over the past three generations. As such, the species is assessed as Vulnerable.
Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as local and sparse to reasonably common (Madge and McGowan 2002). It is still reasonably regularly encountered in hilly country in the central core of Peninsular Malaysia (D. L. Yong in litt. 2020), but appears to have declined elsewhere, including apparent range contraction from Myanmar.
Trend justification
There are no data on population trends; however, this species is suspected to be in decline at a moderately rapid rate, owing primarily to logging.
Lophura rufa is known from extreme southern Tenasserim, Myanmar, peninsular Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Bangka, Indonesia. It is now very rare in peninsular Thailand, with recent records from very few sites, all protected areas, and only from camera traps or hunted remains (D. L. Yong in litt. 2020, I. Sa-ar in litt. 2020). The species is still believed to persist outside of protected areas (Boakes et al. 2018) however there seem few sites where it is encountered regularly in Peninsular Malaysia (D. L. Yong in litt. 2020), and it is likely to have declined rapidly in line with habitat loss and degradation in lowland Sumatra. It was thought likely to be close to extinction on Bangka (Madge and McGowan 2002) however it persists in the candidate Pelawan Biodiversity Park (Akbarini et al. 2018). There are no recent records from Myanmar. Based on rates of forest loss and predictions of the impact of hunting on the population (Symes et al. 2018), it is suspected to be declining rapidly everywhere except the most secure protected areas.
It is a lowland forest specialist, occurring from near sea-level up to 1,200 m (Wells 1999), but typically occurring at higher levels than L. erythrophthalma. It has been recorded in logged forest (del Hoyo et al. 1994, Madge and McGowan 2002), but generally appears to either be absent or in extremely low densities in logged and secondary habitat (D. L. Yong in litt. 2014, Moore et al. 2016).
Forest destruction in the Sundaic lowlands of Indonesia and Malaysia has been extensive and is proceeding at a moderate to rapid rate: Deforestation within the range of Malay Crested Fireback has removed 24% of the species's range within the past three generations (Symes et al. 2020, Global Forest Watch 2020). However this does not identify the further extent to which forest has been degraded, and the species occurs at far lower densities in degraded forest (D. L. Yong in litt. 2014) and even in forest fruit gardens where other forest species are found at higher abundance (Moore et al. 2016). A variety of factors are driving deforestation and forest degradation including the escalation of logging and land conversion, with deliberate targeting of all remaining stands of valuable timber including those inside protected areas, plus a dramatic increase in forest fires (particularly in Sumatra).
The species is also suspected to be heavily impacted by hunting and trapping for the cage bird trade (Symes et al. 2018). It is judged to be at high risk of extinction from areas accessible to trappers in a short time frame, and the majority of the range has been assessed as accessible to hunters. Consequently a rapid population reduction is suspected (Symes et al. 2018).
Conservation Actions Underway
It occurs in a number of protected areas, including Krau Wildlife Reserve, Taman Negara National Park, Way Kambas National Park, Tanjung Putting National Park and Khao Luang National Park.
65-70 cm. Distinctive crested pheasant with blue facial skin and dark glossy blue-black plumage, white central tail feathers and brilliant maroon on the lower back and rump. Similar spp. L. rufa (geographically separated) has belly blue-black with white streaks and white central tail feathers.Voice. Sharp squirrel-like "chukun, chunkun" plus loud wing-whirrs and low, questioning croaks followed by a sharp whistle.
Text account compilers
Martin, R.
Contributors
Eaton, J., Mahood, S., Sa-ar, I., Yong, D., Symes, A. & Taylor, J.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Malay Crested Fireback Lophura rufa. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/malay-crested-fireback-lophura-rufa on 27/11/2024.
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 27/11/2024.