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

Taxonomic note

Crithagra leucoptera (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) was previously placed in the genus Serinus and listed as S. leucopterus following Dowsett & Forbes-Watson (1993); Sibley & Monroe (1990, 1993).

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
2021	Near Threatened	A2bc+3bc+4bc
2017	Near Threatened	A2bc+3bc+4bc
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1988	Near Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	119,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	250000-600000 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2015
Population trend	decreasing	-	inferred	2019-2029
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-25%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-25%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-25%	-	-	-
Generation length	2.87 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: Lee and Barnard (2016) estimate the population at 395,257-831,202 individuals. This roughly equates to 263,500-554,130 mature individuals, placed here in the range 250,000-600,000 mature individuals.

Based on its dispersal ability and ability to tolerate burned Fynbos (Taylor et al. 2015), it is assumed that this species functions as one subpopulation.

Trend justification: The species is thought to be undergoing a moderately rapid decline, as implied by range and reporting rate reductions between Southern African Bird Atlas Projects (SABAP). Lee and Barnard (2016) place the range and reporting rate reduction between SABAPs (SABAP1 1987-1992; SABAP2 2007-ongoing) as 32%, though Lee et al. (2017) place the range decline at 24%. These rates are equivalent to a rate of decline of c.11-15% over 3 generations. The species is also likely experiencing habitat degradation from the spread of alien vegetation within the Fynbos biome, and from increases in temperature and changes in fire patterns due to climate change (Lee and Bernard 2016). It therefore suspected that the rate of decline overall falls in the band of 20-25%, and this decline is suspected to continue into the future as climate change continues.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
South Africa	Anysberg Nature Reserve
South Africa	Boland Mountains
South Africa	Cedarberg - Koue Bokkeveld complex
South Africa	Kouga - Baviaanskloof Complex
South Africa	Langeberg Mountains
South Africa	Outeniqua mountains
South Africa	Swartberg mountains

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	marginal	resident
Altitude		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%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Protea Canary Crithagra leucoptera. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/protea-canary-crithagra-leucoptera 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.