Current view: Data table and detailed info
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.
IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Red List history
| Migratory status |
not a migrant |
Forest dependency |
high |
| Land-mass type |
continent
|
Average mass |
- |
Population justification: The population size has been previously suggested to fall into the band 2,500-9,999 mature individuals, based on an assessment of known records, descriptions of abundance and range size. However there is no density estimate available for this species, and those of congeners (none of which are as tied to plains-level forest as this) range too widely to allow for an accurate inference. The area of suitable habitat was estimated by Savini et al. (2021) to be 5,205 km2, however their methodology excluded all patches <40 km2. Ascertaining this species' persistence in smaller forest patches should be considered a priority for research as well as developing new densities to allow for the producing of a new global population estimate.
Trend justification: Forest loss in Thai-Malay Peninsula's plains-level forest, to which this species is confined, has been extremely rapid and does not appear to be slowing. Global Forest Watch (2021) (using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein) data indicate that total forest cover loss within suitable elevations in the range of the species was 44-50% between 2000 and 2020, equivalent to 46-51% over three generations (20.7 years; Bird et al. 2020). Similarly, Savini et al. (2021) estimated using compositional analysis and GBIF (2019) data, that between 2000 and 2018, the area of suitable habitat declined by c.33%, equivalent to c.39% over three generations. The total area of patches >40 km2 in this species's range fell rapidly (by 84%) from c.32,500 km2 to c.5,200 km2 between 2000 and 2018 (Savini et al. 2021), indicating pervasive habitat fragmentation that is likely to leave the species vulnerable to disturbance and hunting; the latter is observed even in protected areas (J. Eaton in litt. 2022). Even in areas not specifically targeted by hunters, leg snares are commonly (and illegally) used by labourers of the logging industry (G. Davison in litt. 2022).
This species is highly forest dependent and occurs in only tall primary dipterocarp forest and occasionally mature secondary forest, but never in plantations, hence the loss of area of suitable habitat is suspect to be directly related to the rate of population reduction. Thus over the past three generations, the population is suspected to have declined by 40-60%. The rate of decline may be expected to increase in the future: average annual rates of forest loss have increased such that projecting the average annual rate for the past five years (2016-2020) results in 56-64% forest cover loss over the next three generations while future local extinctions in smaller habitat patches may be expected if populations prove unviable or easily impacted by hunting. The rate of decline over the next three generations is therefore suspected to be 60-70%.
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Malay Peacock-Pheasant Polyplectron malacense. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/malay-peacock-pheasant-polyplectron-malacense 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.
