LC
Pel's Fishing-owl Scotopelia peli



Taxonomy

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
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
Year Category Criteria
2018 Least Concern
2016 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
Species attributes

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

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) 18,500,000 km2 medium
Severely fragmented? no -
Population
Estimate Data quality Derivation Year of estimate
Population size unknown - - -
Population trend decreasing - inferred -
Generation length 6.1 years - - -

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is reported to be common in most of its range (del Hoyo et al. 1999).

Trend justification:

The species is tentatively assessed as being in decline due to habitat loss per Tracewski et al. (2016).


Country/territory distribution
Country/Territory Presence Origin Resident Breeding visitor Non-breeding visitor Passage migrant
Angola extant native yes
Benin extant native yes
Botswana extant native yes
Burkina Faso extant native yes
Cameroon extant native yes
Central African Republic extant native yes
Congo extant native yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the extant native yes
Côte d'Ivoire extant native yes
Eritrea extant native yes
Eswatini possibly extinct native yes
Ethiopia extant native yes
Gabon extant native yes
Gambia extant native yes
Ghana extant native yes
Guinea extant native yes
Kenya extant native yes
Liberia extant native yes
Malawi extant native yes
Mali extant native yes
Mozambique extant native yes
Namibia extant native yes
Niger extant native yes
Nigeria extant native yes
Rwanda extant native yes
Senegal extant native yes
Sierra Leone extant native yes
Somalia extant native yes
South Africa extant native yes
South Sudan extant native yes
Sudan extant native yes
Tanzania extant native yes
Togo extant native yes
Uganda extant native yes
Zambia extant native yes
Zimbabwe extant native yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name

Habitats & altitude
Habitat (level 1) Habitat (level 2) Importance Occurrence
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland suitable resident
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Swamp suitable resident
Marine Neritic Estuaries suitable resident
Wetlands (inland) Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands suitable resident
Wetlands (inland) Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha) suitable resident
Wetlands (inland) Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls) suitable resident
Wetlands (inland) Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha) suitable resident
Altitude 0 - 1700 m Occasional altitudinal limits  

Utilisation
Purpose Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture international

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Pel's Fishing-owl Scotopelia peli. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/pels-fishing-owl-scotopelia-peli on 26/12/2024.
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 26/12/2024.