• 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., 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.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Vulnerable	A2ac+3c+4c; C2a(i)
2013	Vulnerable	A2ac+3c+4c;C2a(i)
2012	Vulnerable	A2ac+3c+4c;C2a(i)
2008	Vulnerable	A2c; ; A4c; C1; C2a(i)
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
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)	355,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	2020-2030
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	0-9%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	0-15%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	0-15%	-	-	-
Generation length	3.38 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: Typically considered sparsely distributed but locally common (e.g. Grimmett et al. 1998, Rasmussen and Anderton 2012) and citizen science data indicate that at some sites it is evidently quite common and regularly found (eBird 2024). Within its known range, Jha and Vasudevan (2020a) estimated that there remained approximately 75,000 km² of suitable habitat, although over 80% of fragments were less than five square kilometres in extent. While there is no density available for this species, it is reasonable to conclude that even if only a small proportion of this habitat is occupied, the species' population size is probably large (and certainly larger than the 10,000 mature individuals estimated by previous evaluations of its extinction risk: IUCN 2016).

Trend justification: The main threat to this species is the loss and degradation of often unprotected scrub and thorn forests. However, the extent of these habitat classes scarcely reduced (<1%) between 2010 and 2020 (data from Jung et al. [2020], analysed by sRedList [2023]) and while degradation of some sites is probably ongoing, there is little evidence to suggest that over the past 10 years (2013-2023) this species has declined rapidly. Accordingly it is suspected of having declined by 0-9%. In the future, suitable habitat extent is suspected to reduce in response to climate change, mostly optimistically by c.5% by 2050 (RCP 2.6) and pessimistically by c.40% by 2070 (RCP 8.5) (scenarios from Table 2: Jha and Vasudevan 2020a). However the timings and mechanisms behind these declines are uncertain and remain to be elucidated by monitoring data. Nonetheless, this should be monitored. Future declines of 0-15% over the next 10 years are therefore suspected, noting that forest loss and degradation may continue at the same pace it has over the past 10 years, and there may be compounding impacts of climate change.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
India	Adichunchunagiri Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Arabhithittu Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Bandipur National Park
India	Bannerghatta National Park
India	Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary and Hills
India	Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Hampi and Daroji Bear Sanctuary
India	Horsley Hills
India	Jogimatti Reserve Forest
India	Kaundinya Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Melkote Temple Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Mudumalai National Park
India	Nandi Hills
India	Noorukuppalakonda Reserve Forest
India	Papikonda National Park
India	Rajiv Ghandi Wildlife Sanctuary (Nagarjunasagar - Srisailam Tiger Reserve)
India	Ramanagara Reserve Forest
India	Sri Penusila Narasimha Wildlife Sanctuary
India	Sri Venkateswara Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		major	resident
Savanna	Dry	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Altitude	300 - 1800 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

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%)		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	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Yellow-throated Bulbul Pycnonotus xantholaemus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/yellow-throated-bulbul-pycnonotus-xantholaemus on 23/11/2024.
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 23/11/2024.