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

Taxonomic note

Mulleripicus funebris and M. fuliginosus (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously lumped as M. funebris following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

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
-	-	A3c+4c; C2a(i)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2023	Vulnerable	A3c+4c
2016	Vulnerable	A2c+3c+4c
2014	Vulnerable	A2c+3c+4c
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	high
Land-mass type		Average mass	164 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	253,000 km2	good
Number of locations	11-100	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	5000-10000 mature individuals	poor	suspected	2023
Population trend	decreasing	good	inferred	2014-2030
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	15-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-35%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-35%	-	-	-
Generation length	5.3 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-30,5-30	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, although it is considered rare (Allen 2020) and has undoubtedly been reduced in number over the past three generations. Despite increasingly comprehensive survey effort, this species has not been discovered at many sites (eBird 2023). Records from Samar are especially scarce and the species may now be confined (or functionally so) to Samar Island Natural Park, where habitat degradation is ongoing (Hutchinson 2021). On Mindanao, records from PICOP have decreased in frequency over the past two decades, and the population at this site may no longer be particularly large (eBird 2023). The only other site of frequent observation is Pasonanca Natural Park (Zamboanga), and sightings elsewhere are typically in small and increasingly fragmented areas of mountain foothill forest. No single subpopulation is suspected of numbering more than 1,000 mature individuals, and precautionarily the global population size is suspected of being fewer than 10,000 mature individuals

Trend justification: The population is inferred to be declining due to forest loss and degradation. There are no empirical survey data from which to derive rates of population decline, thus forest cover loss is used as a proxy. Over the past three generations (16 years: 2006-2022), forest cover loss in this species has been 13-19%, depending on the assumptions used (Global Forest Watch 2023, based on data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein). Rates of forest loss appear to have accelerated since c. 2014, equivalent to a rate of 17-23% over three generations. However, rates of forest cover loss are believed to (perhaps significantly) underestimate population declines. First, forest losses over the past three generations appear spatially biased towards areas of primary forest from which this species is known (despite effort elsewhere), suggesting that M. fuliginosus is being disproportionately affected. Moreover, selective logging is thought to be having a significant impact on this species (probably via the removal of suitable nesting trees); this is evidenced by it becoming more difficult to see at some points, for example, at PICOP, where its detection rate has undoubtedly dropped in recent years (eBird 2023) at a rate that appears to have exceeded net forest loss. Over the past three generations, the rate of population decline is therefore suspected to have been in the range of 15-29%, with an acceleration in both the current and projected future rates of loss, set precautionarily at 20-35%.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 500 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	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Shifting agriculture	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
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
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Southern Sooty Woodpecker Mulleripicus fuliginosus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/southern-sooty-woodpecker-mulleripicus-fuliginosus on 26/12/2024.
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 26/12/2024.