• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• 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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Near Threatened	C1
2012	Near Threatened	C1
2008	Near Threatened	C1
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1994	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1988	Near Threatened

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type	continent	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	720,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	unknown	poor	-	-
Generation length	3.03 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-20	-	-	-

Population justification: The population size of this poorly-known species has not been quantified; it is closely associated with giant honey bee colonies Apis laboriosa and is considered very rare to uncommon throughout its range. Although generally assumed to be a rare species, it is likely easily overlooked due to its inconspicuous behaviour and may be more common than the paucity of records suggest.

Trend justification: The population trend is very difficult to assess given its very specific ecological niche and the inaccessible nature of its habitat, with current knowledge restricted to a few hives close to roads (N. Kitnya and J. Praveen in litt. 2024). Over-exploitation of bees' nests for honey by human populations has been suggested as a potential threat (Underwood 1992), but the remoteness of much of its range suggests this can only be a marginal and localised threat. Bee colonies may be locally exploited and undergo declines (for example in Nepal), however harvesting of honey is very low in in other parts of the range and much of this remains inaccessible to humans (G. Otis in litt. 2024). Species distribution modelling does not suggest that bee colonies are likely to be significantly affected by climate change (Huang et al. 2022). Moreover, habitat loss and degradation has been suspected of causing declines, but remote sensing data suggest forest loss is minimal within the range [Global Forest Watch 2023, using data from Hansen et al. (2013) and methods disclosed therein]). It is unclear whether these threats are likely to be impacting the global population trend and the lack of knowledge of the species’ breeding biology, including possible hosts if it is a brood parasite, and of its behaviour away from bees’ nests, makes it difficult to assess the scope and severity of any threats (Short et al. 2020). The trend is considered unknown given the considerable uncertainty surrounding the species, though there is currently no evidence to suggest it may be declining at a rate that may approach thresholds for listing as threatened.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Bhutan	extant	native	yes
China (mainland)	extant	native	yes
India	extant	native	yes
Myanmar	extant	native	yes
Nepal	extant	native	yes
Pakistan	possibly extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
China (mainland)	Biluo Xueshan
India	Valley of Flowers National Park
Nepal	Annapurna Conservation Area
Nepal	Langtang National Park
Nepal	Mai Valley forests
Nepal	Makalu Barun National Park
Nepal	Tamur valley and watershed

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		major	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	resident
Altitude	1450 - 3500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(min) 600 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Unintentional effects (species is not the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Yellow-rumped Honeyguide Indicator xanthonotus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/yellow-rumped-honeyguide-indicator-xanthonotus 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.