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

Taxonomic note

The genus Suthora has been moved from the family Sylviidae to Paradoxornithidae following Cai et al. (2019). Previously placed in Sinosuthora (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) but moved to current genus following Cai et al. (2019). Formerly listed as Paradoxornis przewalskii. Monotypic.

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2021. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Least Concern
2016	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2012	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2008	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1996	Vulnerable
1994	Vulnerable
1988	Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	52,600 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	stable	poor	suspected	-
Generation length	2.8 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: Population density and size are wholly unknown and difficult to estimate. The species was always thought to be scarce: Deditius (1897) and Dresser and Morgan (1899) described it as rare in the late nineteenth century, and more recently MacKinnon and Phillipps (2000) regarded it as uncommon. However, accuracies of abundance are confounded by the species' apparent nomadism in search of flowering bamboo (Collar et al. 1994), and the species has occasionally been noted as locally common (BirdLife International 2001). There has been no published information on this species' population since; obtaining accurate population data should be considered a priority for research.

Trend justification: The species' population trend is very difficult to determine due to its mostly inaccessible (and rarely visited) range and fluctuating local abundance (probably in response to bamboo flowering and die-off events). The population was formerly suspected to be declining (BirdLife International 2001) because of habitat loss and fragmentation. However, rates of habitat loss even three decades ago were relatively minor (see MacKinnon et al. 1996) and occurring at an inestimable rate. More recent remote sensing data (Global Forest Watch 2021, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein) indicate that forest loss in the species' range is minimal (<1% over the last 10 years) and while there may be light degradation ongoing undetected by remote sensing techniques, there is no evidence that this would adversely affect it, particularly if it is dependent on bamboo. In the absence of other known threats, the species is therefore suspected to be stable.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
China (mainland)	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
China (mainland)	Babso Nature Reserve
China (mainland)	Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve
China (mainland)	Jonê
China (mainland)	Min Shan mountains

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Temperate	major	resident
Altitude	2440 - 3050 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(min) 2400 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	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: Rusty-throated Parrotbill Suthora przewalskii. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/rusty-throated-parrotbill-suthora-przewalskii on 23/11/2024.
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 23/11/2024.