Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the threshold for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years of three generations). The population size may be moderately small to large, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Population justification
The population is estimated at 25,000 to 100,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2018).
Trend justification
The species is tentatively assessed as being in decline due to habitat loss per Tracewski et al. (2016).
Tigriornis leucolopha is uncommon to rare through the African equatorial rainforests, with breeding records from the Gambia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Gabon and the Congo. It is perhaps commonest in parts of Gabon, lower Congo and northern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (Brown et al. 1982, Hancock and Kushlan 1984), and has been described as widespread in Ghana (F. Dowsett-Lemaire and R. Dowsett in litt. 2005). It is difficult to estimate a total population size due to the secretive nature of this species (Hancock and Kushlan 1984), but it is now known from at least 62 sites (H. Rainey in litt. 2003).
Behaviour This species is largely sedentary although there are indications of some migratory movements or vagrancy (del Hoyo et al. 1992). The timing of breeding varies locally but tends to coincide with the rains(mostly May-July in West Africa, November-January in East Africa) to synchronise chick feeding with the period when water levels are highest (del Hoyo et al. 1992). The species breeds in solitary pairs (as far as is known) (Kushlan and Hancock 2005) and remains solitarily when not breeding (del Hoyo et al. 1992). It is partly nocturnal and mainly forages around dawn and dusk (del Hoyo et al. 1992). Habitat It shows a preference for small shaded streams, marshes or swamps (Brown et al. 1982, Hancock and Kushlan 1984, del Hoyo et al. 1992, Kushlan and Hancock 2005) in dense areas of primary rainforest or swamp-forest (Kushlan and Hancock 2005). It also occurs along the banks of forested rivers (Brown et al. 1982, Hancock and Kushlan 1984, del Hoyo et al. 1992, Kushlan and Hancock 2005) (although it generally avoids larger waterways) (Hancock and Kushlan 1984) and inhabits streams (Kushlan and Hancock 2005) in tangled mangrove swamps (del Hoyo et al. 1992) usually well-away from the coast (Hancock and Kushlan 1984). Diet Its diet consists of small fish, crustaceans (del Hoyo et al. 1992) (e.g. crayfish (Kushlan and Hancock 2005) and freshwater crabs (Hancock and Kushlan 1984)), spiders, insects (del Hoyo et al. 1992) (e.g. winged termites (Hancock and Kushlan 1984)), frogs, snakes and lizards (del Hoyo et al. 1992). Breeding site The nest may be a platform of twigs placed 6 m high in trees (del Hoyo et al. 1992).
The main threat to the species is habitat destruction (del Hoyo et al. 1992). Utilisation The species is hunted and traded at traditional medicine markets in Nigeria (Nikolaus 2001).
Text account compilers
Harding, M., Malpas, L., Palmer-Newton, A., Pilgrim, J., Hermes, C.
Contributors
Rainey, H., Dowsett, R.J., Dodman, T., Dowsett-Lemaire, F.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: White-crested Tiger-heron Tigriornis leucolopha. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/white-crested-tiger-heron-tigriornis-leucolopha on 22/11/2024.
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 22/11/2024.