• 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., 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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2023	Near Threatened	A2c+3c+4c
2016	Near Threatened	A2c+3c+4c
2012	Near Threatened	A2c+3c+4c
2008	Near Threatened	A2c; A3c; A4c
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1994	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	2,660,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	2016-2026
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Generation length	2.9 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	3-50	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified but is believed to be large given the range and frequency of records in suitable habitat. It is a forest-dependent species (with a predilection for riparian areas) and appears to occur only in good forest (eBird 2022). Within its range, the rate of forest conversion to plantations, primarily oil palm, has been very rapid over the past few decades (per Global Forest Watch 2022). There are recent records from remaining forested areas across the range, however the extent of suitable habitat is now considerably smaller than three generations ago. Where habitat is secure the species continues to be regularly observed (eBird 2022), though observing the species away from protected areas is becoming increasingly difficult, especially on Sumatra and the Thai-Malay Peninsula, where records are now scarce. In Thailand, all recent records are in (or in the vicinity of) the Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary (Treesucon and Limparungpatthanakij 2018, eBird 2022) and the population there must now be very small. Almost all records in Malaysia now come from protected areas or forest concessions, and the population is thought to be declining moderately rapidly in lowland Indonesia, although here (especially in Kalimantan), there are large tracts of suitable habitat remaining. Forest loss is much lower in Brunei, where impacts on the species may be much less severe and much of the forest here is likely to be suitable for this species. Although no accurate estimation of the species' population size has been made, it almost certainly exceeds 10,000 mature individuals based on the extent of suitable habitat remaining.

Trend justification: There are no population data available for this species from which to derive estimated rates of reduction. However, as a forest-dependent species, its population size is thought to be closely tied to the extent of available forest, thus rates of forest cover loss are here used as a proxy for population reduction. Over the past ten years (2012-2022), forest cover in this species' (elevational and geographic) range reduced by c. 20-22%, depending on the assumptions used (per Global Forest Watch 2022, based on data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein). There are two reasons why this may be reasonably considered an underestimate. First, it does not account for habitat degradation that is undetectable to remote sensing data, nor the impacts of fragmentation and extinction debt effects imposed on small and isolated forest blocks. Moreover, this species appears to be commonest in extreme lowland and riparian habitats, which may reasonably be expected to have undergone more rapid rates of forest loss due to their easier access to loggers. Consequently, over the past ten years, the population is suspected of having declined by 20-29%. The same rate is of reduction is also applied to the window 2016-2026, and over the next 10 years (2023-2033), although thereafter it may begin to slow as an increasing percentage of the population is contained within protected areas.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Malaysia	Bau Limestone
Malaysia	Danum Valley Conservation Area
Malaysia	Endau-Rompin
Malaysia	Kinabatangan floodplain
Malaysia	Lambir Hills National Park
Malaysia	Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary
Malaysia	Loagan Bunut National Park
Malaysia	Maliau Basin Conservation Area
Malaysia	Mount Kinabalu
Malaysia	Mulu - Buda Protected Area
Malaysia	Niah National Park
Malaysia	Sadong-Saribas coast
Malaysia	Similajau National Park
Malaysia	South-east Pahang peat swamp forest
Malaysia	Tabin Wildlife Reserve
Malaysia	Taman Negara National Park

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(max) 900 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Shifting agriculture	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Agriculture & aquaculture	Wood & pulp plantations - Agro-industry plantations	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
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	national, international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Malaysian Blue Flycatcher Cyornis turcosus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/malaysian-blue-flycatcher-cyornis-turcosus on 23/11/2024.
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 23/11/2024.