• 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. 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.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2013	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	20,300,000 km2
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	23,900,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	poor	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	2016-2027
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-6%	-	-	-
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	3.91 years	-	-	-

Population justification: A very preliminary population size was given as 1,000-10,000 individuals (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001). While in parts of the range the species appears to occur at very low densities, towards the eastern end of the range sightings are more frequent and it does not appear plausible that the total number of mature individuals is close to 1,000 (G. Dutson in litt. 2021). As such, the current population size is considered unknown, and remains a priority for research into this poorly-known falcon.

Trend justification: The species appears to have declined noticeably in India (A. Rahman, R. Bhargava in litt. 2021), and there are no reliable 20th or 21st century records from the Western Ghats (Praveen J. in litt. 2021), indicating that any migratory population may no longer exist. Causes of this apparent range contraction are uncertain, but forest loss has been suspected to be driving declines (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001). During 2001-2020, 9.1% of forest cover was lost across this species’s range (Global Forest Watch 2021), equating to a loss of 5.7% over three generations (11.73 years [Bird et al. 2020]). During 2016-2020, 3.5% of forest cover was lost (Global Forest Watch 2021), equivalent to 10% when projected forward over three generations. This species utilises other habitats for hunting, but nests predominantly in forests (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001). There are currently no other known threats to the species, therefore the maximum suspected rate of reduction is set as the rate of forest loss.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Bangladesh	extant	vagrant
Bhutan	extant	native		yes	yes
Brunei	extant	vagrant
Cambodia	extant	native	yes
China (mainland)	extant	native	yes	yes
India	extant	native		yes	yes
Indonesia	extant	native	yes
Laos	extant	native	yes
Malaysia	extant	vagrant
Myanmar	extant	native	yes
Nepal	extant	native		yes	yes
Palau	extant	vagrant
Papua New Guinea	extant	native	yes
Philippines	extant	native	yes
Singapore	extant	vagrant			yes
Solomon Islands	extant	native	yes
Sri Lanka	extant	native			yes
Thailand	extant	native	yes
Vietnam	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 2600 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

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 - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
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	Logging & wood harvesting - Motivation Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Oriental Hobby Falco severus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/oriental-hobby-falco-severus 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.