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

Taxonomic note

Previously listed as Chatarrhaea longirostris (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) but moved to current genus following Cai et al. (2019). Formerly listed as Turdoides longirostris. Birds reported from SW Myanmar not yet assigned to subspecies. Two subspecies recognized.

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
-	-	B2ab(iii)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Vulnerable	B2ab(iii)
2016	Vulnerable	A2c+3c+4c
2012	Vulnerable	A2c+3c+4c
2008	Vulnerable	A2c; A3c; A4c
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1994	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1988	Near Threatened

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)	127,000 km2	medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	500 km2
Number of locations	5-20	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	4200-8800 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2006
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	-
Generation length	3.08 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	5	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The population size of this species is not precisely known, but given it is confined to only five sites it is suspected to be relatively small. The largest (or second-largest) remaining population, in Chitwan National Park, was estimated to number 1,400-2,200 mature individuals (Baral and Chaudhary 2006, Inskipp et al. 2016). The population in Kaziranga National Park is likely to be a similar size (or possibly slightly larger) (A. Choudhury in litt. 2016). There has been no attempt to estimate the other three sites of occupancy, but the area of suitable habitat in each of them is smaller than Chitwan and Kaziranga. Accordingly, these three sites combined is thought to host approximately 1,400-4,400 mature individuals (the minimum bound being the minimum number at one of Kaziranga/Chitwan, the upper bound being double the upper bound of one of Kaziranga/Chitwan). Combined, the global population is estimated to number 4,200-8,800 mature individuals.

Trend justification: Suspected to be declining, albeit probably very slowly, in response to ongoing habitat pressures (Krishnan 2021). Populations are greatly fragmented, and while it is evident the species is able to persist short-term in isolated pockets of habitat, the viability of these in the long-term is unknown.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
India	Kaziranga National Park
India	Lowland forests of South Sikkim (Melli-Baguwa-Kitam, Jorethang-Namchi, Sombarey)
India	Manas National Park
India	Manas Reserve Forest
India	Nameri National Park
India	Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary - Zuluk - Bedang Tso - Natula Complex
Nepal	Chitwan National Park

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally Wet/Flooded	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 1200 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Agro-industry grazing, ranching or 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
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Bombax ceiba	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Mikania micrantha	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Mimosa diplotricha	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Natural system modifications	Dams & water management/use - Dams (size unknown)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Trend Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Natural system modifications	Other ecosystem modifications	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Slender-billed Babbler Argya longirostris. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/slender-billed-babbler-argya-longirostris 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.