• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Range map
• 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.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	C2a(ii)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
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

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	600,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2700-3600 mature individuals	good	estimated	2024
Population trend	decreasing	-	inferred	-
Generation length	6.92 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: Population size estimated to be relatively small. Boyla and Estrada (2005) estimated the global population to be less than 10,000 individuals, with a more recent appraisal (Lesterhuis et al. in prep.) more precisely estimating 4,550 individuals by collating published estimates, eBird data, and national censuses. Because this estimate represents a mix of data sources from different times of year, it is difficult to determine the percentage of these that are likely to refer to mature individuals. Between 20% and 40% are suspected to be immatures, leaving 2,730-3,640 mature individuals, rounded here to 2,700-3,600.

Trend justification: Population trend somewhat uncertain, but inferred to be declining. In Peru and Chile, Camacho (2010) estimated using collated observations from birding trip reports that mean flock size declined slightly in central Peru between 2000 and 2010, and increased and then decreased (rather rapidly) in northern Chile over the same time period. In Ecuador, the species is apparently declining in response to habitat destruction and fragmentation associated with growing human communities and new petroleum fields (Camacho 2010, Hume et al. 2023), and the species is listed nationally as Endangered (Freile et al. 2019) due to a small population size and continuing decline. B. superciliaris is therefore inferred to be declining, although the rate of decline is not estimated here due to considerable uncertainties about recent trends.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Chile	extant	native	yes
Ecuador	extant	native	yes
Peru	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 920 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
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
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Energy production & mining	Oil & gas drilling	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Residential & commercial development	Commercial & industrial areas	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%)		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 (2025) Species factsheet: Peruvian Thick-knee Burhinus superciliaris. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/peruvian-thick-knee-burhinus-superciliaris on 15/01/2025.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2025) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 15/01/2025.