• 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
-	-	A3cd+4cd

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Vulnerable	A3cd+4cd
2016	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2012	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2011	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2008	Endangered	C2a(i)
2004	Endangered
2000	Endangered
1996	Endangered
1994	Endangered
1988	Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	466,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2500-9999 mature individuals	poor	suspected	2011
Population trend	decreasing	medium	inferred	2016-2028
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)	30-49%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-49%	-	-	-
Generation length	7.3 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The species was previously estimated to number fewer than 2,500 individuals because of its apparent scarcity; however, it has recently been shown to be more widespread and probably more common than previously thought (Dowsett-Lemaire and Dowsett 2008, 2009), thus it is now suspected to number 2,500-9,999 mature individuals. Further study is required to confirm this.

Trend justification:

This species is inferred to be declining owing to ongoing forest loss (Global Forest Watch 2021).
During the years 2001-2019, this species experienced forest cover loss of 20% across its range. This equates to 22% over three generations. While this species may tolerate habitat degradation under certain conditions (Dowsett-Lemaire and Dowsett 2009), it is also threatened by capture for trade. Therefore the overall rate of decline is suspected to fall into the band 20-29% over three generations. During the years 2016-2019, this species experienced forest cover loss of 8.2% across its range (Global Forest Watch 2021). Projecting this forward three generations from 2016, this would equate to a loss of c.38%. Therefore the overall rate of future decline is suspected to fall into the band 30-49%  over three generations.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Côte d'Ivoire	extant	native	yes
Ghana	extant	native	yes
Guinea	extant	native	yes
Liberia	extant	native	yes
Sierra Leone	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Côte d'Ivoire	Azagny National Park
Côte d'Ivoire	Lamto Ecological Research Station
Côte d'Ivoire	Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve
Côte d'Ivoire	Parc National de Taï et Réserve de faune du N'Zo
Côte d'Ivoire	Peko Mountain National Park
Ghana	Ankasa Resource Reserve - Nini-Sushien National Park
Guinea	Diécké
Guinea	Massif du Ziama
Liberia	Nimba mountains
Liberia	Zwedru
Sierra Leone	Gola Forests
Sierra Leone	Loma Mountains Non-hunting Forest Reserve

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Swamp	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent/Irregular Rivers/Streams/Creeks	suitable	resident
Altitude		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		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Other impacts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Other
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Soil erosion, sedimentation	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Pollution	Industrial & military effluents - Type Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Rufous Fishing-owl Scotopelia ussheri. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/rufous-fishing-owl-scotopelia-ussheri 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.