• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Climate Change maps
• 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	Near Threatened	A2c+3c+4c
2016	Near Threatened	A2bc+3bc+4bc
2012	Near Threatened	A2bc+3bc+4bc
2008	Near Threatened	A2b,c; A3b,c; A4b,c
2006	Near Threatened
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1994	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	499,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	1500-7000 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2005
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	2010-2023
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Generation length	4.2 years	-	-	-

Population justification: Dodman (2006) estimated the population to number fewer than 10,000 individuals, and so it is placed here in the band 2,500-9,999 individuals. This equates to 1,667-6,666 mature individuals, rounded here to 1,500-7,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be in decline owing to the ongoing destruction of its wetland habitat (McHugh et al. 2007; Bezibah and Mosissa 2017; Shewit et al. 2017; Dibaba et al. 2020). A direct rate of population decline has not been calculated, but based on the qualitative evidence of habitat loss, the rate of decline is precautionarily suspected to fall in the band of 20-29%.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Eritrea	Asmara escarpment
Eritrea	Semenawi Bahri
Ethiopia	Awi Zone
Ethiopia	Bahir Dar - Lake Tana
Ethiopia	Bale Mountains National Park
Ethiopia	Berga floodplain
Ethiopia	Dessa'a forest
Ethiopia	Finchaa and Chomen swamps
Ethiopia	Gefersa reservoir
Ethiopia	Guassa Plateau (Menz)
Ethiopia	Gudo plain
Ethiopia	Jibat forest
Ethiopia	Lake Ashenge
Ethiopia	Metu - Gore - Tepi forests
Ethiopia	Sululta plain

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	marginal	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	marginal	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	major	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	major	resident
Altitude	1500 - 4100 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
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, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Gathering terrestrial plants - Unintentional effects (species is not the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Rouget's Rail Rougetius rougetii. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/rougets-rail-rougetius-rougetii on 23/12/2024.
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 23/12/2024.