• 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
-	-	A2ace+3ce+4ace

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Vulnerable	A2ace+3ce+4ace
2016	Least Concern
2015	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	9,410,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	11,500,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	30000-67000 mature individuals	poor	suspected	2021
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	2013-2025
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-49%	-	-	-
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	3.85 years	-	-	-

Population justification: Ferguson-Lees and Christie (2001) place the population in the band 10,001-100,000. A single roost of 36,000 birds was reported from Senegal in 2008 (Pilard et al. 2011) and a further 10,000 birds at a roost in Mali in 2012 (Buij et al. 2013). In the absence of information from other parts of the range, the population is suspected to be c. 46,000-100,000 birds, roughly equating to 30,000-67,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: Roadside surveys in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from 1969-2004 revealed population declines of 84% in unprotected areas for this species (Thiollay 2006), equating to 47.3% over three generations (11.55 years [Bird et al. 2020]). Numbers in protected areas also declined (by 66% over three generations), but this decline was not statistically significant (Thiollay 2006). Declines of 40-50% from 1973-2000 were also reported in Cameroon (Thiollay 2001), equating to 25.4% over three generations (further surveys of the same routes during 2007-2010 suggested that average encounter rates had increased by 77% since the original surveys, although this result was strongly influenced by a single high count on one transect [R. Buij pers. comm.]). Combining the results of these two studies, weighted by the area occupied by the Scissor-tailed Kite in each country, the species appears to have declined by 5.4% p.a. in West Africa during the 1970s-2000s, equating to 47% when projected over three generations. 

There is very little information available on population trends further east in the species's breeding range or in its wintering range. Declines are thought to be predominantly due to degradation of arid ecosystems and wetland forests resulting from expanding cultivation, woodcutting and overgrazing by livestock (Buij 2013), alongside improved locust control measures and use of pesticides (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001). These factors have led to extremely low nesting success in Cameroon (17%) and Senegal (4%) (Buij et al. 2013). As these pressures are ongoing and widespread throughout the Sahel (Walther 2016), it is suspected that population declines are occurring throughout the species’s breeding range. In Kenya, no Scissor-tailed Kites were recorded during road surveys conducted during September-May 1970-1977 (8,659 km surveyed), and only three birds were seen during repeat surveys in 2003-2020 (14,415 km surveyed) (P. Shaw, R. Buij, J. M. Thiollay, S. Thomsett, Z. Cockar and D. Ogada in litt. 2021). 

The species is provisionally suspected to be declining at a rate of 30-49% over three generations. Based on the likelihood that the threats of habitat destruction and degradation will continue, it is suspected that the rates of decline will continue into the future.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Benin	extant	native	yes
Burkina Faso	extant	native	yes
Cameroon	extant	native	yes
Central African Republic	extant	native	yes
Chad	extant	native	yes
Côte d'Ivoire	extant	native	yes
Djibouti	extant	native		yes	yes
Eritrea	extant	vagrant		yes
Ethiopia	extant	native		yes	yes
Gambia	extant	native	yes
Ghana	extant	native	yes
Kenya	extant	native		yes	yes
Liberia	extant	vagrant
Mali	extant	native	yes
Mauritania	extant	native	yes
Niger	extant	native	yes
Nigeria	extant	native	yes
Senegal	extant	native	yes
Somalia	extant	native			yes
South Sudan	extant	native	yes		yes
Sudan	extant	native	yes		yes
Togo	extant	native	yes
Uganda	extant	native		yes	yes
Yemen	extant	vagrant			yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Kenya	Kirisia Forest

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Desert	Hot	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Savanna	Dry	major	non-breeding
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	breeding
Altitude	0 - 500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species disturbance
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality
Residential & commercial development	Tourism & recreation areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species disturbance

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Scissor-tailed Kite Chelictinia riocourii. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/scissor-tailed-kite-chelictinia-riocourii 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.