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

Justification of Red List category
Almost all facets of this species' ecology remain unknown, however there are no known threats to it thought to be driving a continuing decline. It is therefore listed as Least Concern.

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.

Suthora przewalskii is endemic to China, where it has been recorded from a handful of localities in the Min Shan mountains in southern Gansu province and adjacent parts of north-central Sichuan province (BirdLife International 2001, eBird 2021).

Its ecology is poorly known. Historical records are from sparse larch woods, tussocks on a steep hillside and a bamboo thicket, at c.2,440-3,050 m. Recent records are from dense bamboo undergrowth in mixed coniferous forest and a bamboo thicket at 2,800 m. Five birds observed in May 2011 at Tangjiahe Nature Reserve were present in a narrow altitudinal band at c.2,700 m, in bamboo just below the treeline (J. Hammar in litt. 2011). The species' diet is mainly insects. Given that it appears to be particularly associated with bamboo, it may be forced to move in response to periodic bamboo flowering and die-off.

Previously, the species was thought to be threatened by forest cover loss as a result of exploitation for timber and clearance for cultivation and pasture (BirdLife International 2001). For example, the province's forest cover was estimated to have declined from 19% to 12.6% between the 1950s and 1988 (MacKinnon et al. 1996, BirdLife International 2001). However, more recent remote sensing data (Global Forest Watch 2021) indicate that forest clearance in this species' range is negligible and unlikely to be causing an ongoing decline. Nonetheless, this should continue to be monitored.

Conservation Actions Underway
A number of protected areas established for the giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca contain suitable habitat, but the species' distribution and abundance in these is poorly known. It has been recorded from some protected areas, including Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve, Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve and Old Creek Nature Reserve (BirdLife International 2001, eBird 2021).

Conservation Actions Proposed
Survey protected areas in or near to its known range to determine population size. Research its habitat requirements and altitudinal range.
Strengthen protection and link, where possible, protected areas where it occurs and where new populations are discovered. Support recommendations to control logging and fire and restore damaged giant panda habitat where this would benefit this species and other endemic temperate forest bird species. Control tourism in Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve. List it as a nationally protected species in China.

13-14.5 cm. Distinctive, greyish to olive-brown parrotbill with contrasting pale chestnut throat and upper breast. Dark chestnut forehead, lores and long eyebrow, the latter turning blackish-brown at rear. Voice Flocks call with rather spluttering chrr-rr-rr-rr, interspersed with sharp tsip and tsit-it notes.

Text account compilers
Berryman, A.

Contributors
Benstead, P., Gilroy, J., Hammar, J. & Taylor, J.

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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 23/12/2024.
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.