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

Taxonomic note
Previously placed in Turdoides (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) but moved to current genus following Cai et al. (2019). Has elsewhere been treated as conspecific with A. striata. Monotypic.

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2021. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Least Concern
2016	Near Threatened	B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)
2012	Near Threatened	B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)
2008	Near Threatened	B1a+b(i,ii,iii,iv,v)
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	30,500 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	-
Generation length	4 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-100	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is generally described as common (Collar and Robson 2021). In bird surveys of the wet and montane zone of Sri Lanka 2007-2009, Goodale et al. (2014) had 1,989 detections of this species and Kotagama and Goodale (2004) recorded it as being the most abundant species in mixed-species flocks.

Trend justification: The population is precautionarily suspected to be in slow decline, but may be stable. Some populations are precautionarily suspected to be declining because of habitat degradation (the species is absent from small plots of degraded wet zone forest near Horana and Galle [E. Goodale in litt. 2020]), although remote sensing data suggest that recent forest loss in this species' range is minimal (Global Forest Watch [2021], using data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein), equivalent to 2-3% over the past three generations. Moreover, the species seems more abundant in secondary forest (logged in the 1970s and 1980s) than in primary forest (E. Goodale in litt. 2020).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Sri Lanka	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Sri Lanka	Amanawala
Sri Lanka	Delgoda / Kudumiriya / Kobahadukanda
Sri Lanka	Dellawa / Diyadawa
Sri Lanka	Delwela / Panilkanda / Walankanda
Sri Lanka	Gilimale-Eratna
Sri Lanka	Karawita
Sri Lanka	Kithulgala
Sri Lanka	Morapitiya-Runakanda
Sri Lanka	Morningside and Handapan Ella Plains (Sinharaja IBA)
Sri Lanka	Peak Wilderness Sanctuary
Sri Lanka	Rammalkanda
Sri Lanka	Waratalgoda

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Moist	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 1000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(max) 2180 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		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Shifting agriculture	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
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
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Supression in fire frequency/intensity	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Orange-billed Babbler Argya rufescens. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/orange-billed-babbler-argya-rufescens on 27/12/2024.
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 27/12/2024.