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

Taxonomic note
Myiomela albiventris and M. major have been moved to the new genus Sholicola after they were found to be sister to a newly uncovered clade composed of several genera of mainly Asian blue-flycatchers (Robin et al. 2017). They have also received new common names, and are listed as White-bellied Sholakili Sholicola albiventris and Nilgiri Sholakili S. major.

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2019. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 4. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v4_Dec19.zip.
Robin, V. V., Vishnudas, C. K., Gupta, P., Rheindt, F. E., Hooper, D. M., Ramakrishnan, U., & Reddy, S. 2017. Two new genera of songbirds represent endemic radiations from the Shola Sky Islands of the Western Ghats, India. BMC evolutionary biology, 17(1): 31.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Near Threatened	B1ab(iii)
2018	Vulnerable	B1ab(i,ii,iii,v)+2ab(i,ii,iii,v)
2016	Endangered	B1ab(i,ii,iii,v)
2012	Endangered	B1ab(i,ii,iii,v)
2010	Endangered	B1a+b(i,ii,iii,v)
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	continent	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Number of locations	11-100	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	-
Generation length	3.28 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	4	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size of this species has not been calculated, although it is one of the most frequently recorded species within its range/habitat (Praveen and Nameer 2015, eBird 2023), and is reportedly the most common understorey bird in Grasshills National Park (V. V. Robin in litt. 2012).

Trend justification: Possibly much declined from historical baselines given the removal of habitat from within its range. There are no monitoring data from which to derive a current trend for this species, although it is precautionarily suspected to be declining, albeit at a slow rate. Habitat loss and degradation has been slow over the past decade (2013–2023) according to remote sensing data (Global Forest Watch 2023, based on data from Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein), although these analyses are relatively insensitive to forest degradation or modifications that don't affect the forest canopy. Recent modelling for this species projected that it may lose a significant (26.6–44.9%) area of suitable habitat in response to climate change by 2050 (Sreekumar and Nameer 2022), although the mechanisms by which this may occur, and this species' plasticity and temperature tolerances, are unknown.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
India	Achankovil Forest Division
India	Anamudi Shola National Park
India	Berijam (Kodaikanal)
India	Eravikulam National Park
India	Grass Hills
India	Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park
India	Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
India	Kulahupuzha Reserved Forest
India	Kurinjimala Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Mankulam Forest Division
India	Mathikettan Shola National Park
India	Megamalai Mountains
India	Muthukuzhi
India	Nelliyampathy (Nemmara Division)
India	Pampadum Shola National Park
India	Peechi - Vazhani Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Poomparai and Kukkal
India	Shola around Kodaikanal
India	Srivilliputhur Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Thattekkad Wildlife Sanctuary

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	marginal	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Altitude	1000 - 2200 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 conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses 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%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: White-bellied Sholakili Sholicola albiventris. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/white-bellied-sholakili-sholicola-albiventris 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.