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PRIORITY TAXON LIST

The IUCN SSC ASTSG maintains a Priority Taxon List. The objective is to highlight the most threatened songbird taxa impacted by trade in Asia (with a main focus currently on the passerines of Southeast Asia). This list serves as a crucial tool to guide conservation interventions, research priorities and funding efforts aimed at mitigating the impacts of the songbird trade. The IUCN SSC ASTSG is using a Taxon List (rather than a Species List) to recognise distinct conservation units (including subspecies) threatened by trade, even if they are not threatened at the species level or are not officially recognised to be a separate species by AviList. It is worth noting that research and monitoring of all songbird taxa remains important to flag any changes in conservation status and therefore identify urgent conservation actions, even if a species is not currently on the Priority List.

To be included in the list, each taxon must meet the following criteria:

  1. Trade is/has been a main threat to the survival of the taxon – this list therefore excludes threatened taxa encountered in the trade if their primary threat is something else;

  2. The taxon is known or believed to be declining, experiencing local extirpations, or is already very rare in the wild – this list therefore excludes taxa traded at sustainable levels;

  3. The taxon does not currently have significant wild but introduced populations outside its natural range – this list therefore excludes taxa not at risk of extinction globally.

 

Two tiers indicate the level of seriousness of endangerment of each taxon:

  • Tier 1 – Taxon survival is significantly impacted by trade; high priority for conservation actions as extinction may be imminent if no actions are taken;

  • Tier 2 – Evidence that wild populations are threatened by trade, but impacts on wild populations are not as urgent or severe as in Tier 1.
     

The list is updated annually as new evidence on conservation status or taxonomy arises.

Tier 1 - Urgently impacted by trade; high conservation priority

COMMON NAME                         SCIENTIFIC NAME                              EXPLANATION & RELEVANT REFERENCES   

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Black-winged Myna (subspecies melanopterus)

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Black-winged Myna (subspecies tertius = Gray-rumped Myna)

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Black-winged Myna (subspecies tricolor = Gray-backed Myna) 

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Brown-cheeked Bulbul (=Melodious Bulbul) 

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Javan Leafbird

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Sumatran Leafbird

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Greater Green Leafbird

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Blue-masked Leafbird

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​​Javan Green Magpie

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Maratua Shama

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Kangean Shama

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Larwo Shama

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White-rumped Shama (subspecies hypolizus = Barusan Shama from Simeulue)

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White-rumped Shama (subspecies melanurus = Barusan Shama from Nias, Mentawai)

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​White-rumped Shama (subspecies mirabilis = Barusan Shama from Panaitan)

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White-rumped Shama (subspecies ngae = Barusan Shama from Langkawi and Western Thai archipelago)​

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​White-rumped Shama (subspecies opisthochrus = Barusan Shama from Babi, Lasia)

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White-rumped Shama (unnamed population from Kepulauan Banyak)

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Oriental Magpie Robin (subspecies amoenus = Black Magpie Robin from East Java/Bali)

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Javan Jungle Flycatcher

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Orange-breasted Laughingthrush

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Sumatran Laughingthrush

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Sunda Laughingthrush (subspecies palliatus from Sumatra)

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Rufus-fronted Laughingthrush (subspecies rufifrons from West Java)

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Rufus-fronted Laughingthrush (subspecies slamatensis  from Gunung Slamet)

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Orange-headed Thrush (subspecies rubecula from Java and Bali)

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Common Hill Myna (subspecies batuensis = Mentawai Hill Myna from Mentawai)

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Common Hill Myna (subspecies enganensis = Enggano Hill Myna from Enggano)

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Common Hill Myna (subspecies miotera = Simeulue Hill Myna from Simeulue)

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Common Hill Myna (subspecies robusta = Nias Hill Myna from Nias)

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Tenggara Hill Myna

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​Javan Pied Starling

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​Brown Shrike (subspecies superciliosus = Japanese Brown Shrike)

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​Silver-eared Mesia (subspecies laurinae = Sumatran Mesia from Central Sumatra)

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​Silver-eared Mesia (subspecies rookmakeri = Sumatran Mesia from Aceh)

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Van Hasselt's Sunbird (subspecies brasiliana from Sundaland)

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Bali Starling

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Horsfield's Bushlark (subspecies javanica from Java and Bali)

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Horsfield's Bushlark (subspecies parva from most of Nusa Tenggara)​

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Crested Jay (=Jayshrike) (subspecies galericulatus = Javan Jayshrike from Java)

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Javan Scimitar Babbler

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Black-throated Laughingthrush (subspecies germani from South Vietnam)​​

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Aceh Bulbul

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​Straw-headed Bulbul

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​Javan White-eye

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​Sangkar White-eye (subspecies buxtoni from West Java)

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​​​​Sangkar White-eye (subspecies melanurus from East and Central Java)

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​​​Sangkar White-eye (subspecies sumatranus from Sumatra)​

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​​​Wangi-wangi White-eye

Acridotheres melanopterus melanopterus

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Acridotheres melanopterus tertius

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Acridotheres melanopterus tricolor

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Alophoixus bres

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Chloropsis cochinchinensis

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Chloropsis media

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 Chloropsis sonnerati

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 Chloropsis venusta

 

 

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Cissa thalassina

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Copsychus [malabaricus] barbouri

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​Copsychus [malabaricus] nigricauda

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Copsychus [malabaricus] omissa

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Copsychus malabaricus hypolizus

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Copsychus malabaricus melanurus

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Copsychus malabaricus mirabialis

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​​Copsychus malabaricus ngae

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​​Copsychus malabaricus opisthochrusa

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​Copsychus malabaricus ssp. 

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Copsychus saularis amoenus

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​Cyornis banyumas

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Garrulax annamensis

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​Garrulax bicolor

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​Garrulax palliatus palliatus

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Garrulax rufifrons rufifrons

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Garrulax rufifrons slamaetensis

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Geokichla citrina rubecula

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Gracula [religiosa] batuensis

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​Gracula [religiosa] enganensis

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Gracula [religiosa] miotera

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Gracula [religiosa] robusta

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Gracula venerata

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Gracupica jalla

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Lanius cristatus superciliosus

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Leiothrix (argentauris) laurinae

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Leiothrix (argentauris) rookmakeri

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Leptocoma brasiliana brasiliana

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Leucopsar rothschildi

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Mirafra javanica javanica

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Mirafra javanica parva

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Platylophus galericulatus galericulatus

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Pomatorhinus (montanus) montanus

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​Pterorhinus chinensis germani

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Pycnonotus snouckaerti

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Pycnonotus zeylanicus

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Zosterops flavus

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Zosterops melanurus buxtoni

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Zosterops melanurus melanurus

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Zosterops melanurus sumatranus

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Zosterops paruhbesar​

Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade

IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Bruslund et al (2021)

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone 

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone
 

Faces continued and urgent threat from trade

IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Uplisted to Tier 1. Sightings in the wild dropped dramatically at Sumatran birding sites where previously easily seen, suggesting local extirpations. Emerging and targeted demand - large numbers observed in Pramuka recently (high hundreds); some birdkeeping groups focus exclusively on this species.
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Marsden et al (2023)
 

Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Wu et al (2022)
 

Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Berryman (2023),
Wu et al (2022)
 

Faces continued and urgent threat from trade. The taxa previously recognized as C.m.javana has been merged under omissa.
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Wu et al (2022)
 

Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Wu et al (2022)
 

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Amey (2021), Wu et al (2022)

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Wu et al (2022)
 

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Wu & Rheindt (2022), Wu et al (2022)

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Wu et al (2022)
 

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Wu et al (2022)

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade

IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade

IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Irham et al (2022)

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New listing on Tier 1. Now extremely rare; firm candidate for urgent conservation actions. Disappeared from most known birding sites in the wild. Very limited distribution. Assessed EN on Red List. Evidence of international trade demand.
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Thang et al (2024)

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Heinrich et al (2021)
 

Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone
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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone
 

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Ng et al (2021)
 

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade

IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Ng et al (2021)
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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Ng et al (2021)
 

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Amey (2021), Bruslund et al (2021

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, van Balen & Collar (2021),
Nijman et al (2021)
 

Uplisted to Tier 1. Now extremely rare; firm candidate for urgent conservation action. Strongly suspected to be due to trapping in overwintering grounds on Java (Brown Shrikes on the whole are recorded in large numbers in trade), rather than habitat loss as previously thought. Now so rare that this subspecies has no longer been recorded in trade or wild.
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Collar & Wirth (2022)
 

 

Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Collar & Wirth (2022)
 

 

Has undergone significant declines in the wild. Concerning declines recorded across Indonesia and in some birding sites where previously common. 
Massive growth in demand especially in Indonesia (thousands recorded in markets and in seizures) and gaining popularity in Thailand.
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, FLIGHT (2023)
 

Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone
 

Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone
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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone
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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Marsden et al (2023)
 

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Marsden et al (2023)
 

New listing on Tier 1. Now extremely rare in wild and continues to decline.
Particularly vulnerable to trapping for trade in its range.
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Shepherd et al (2023)

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Uplisted to Tier 1. Extremely rare in wild now, continues to decline at known birding sites. Recent field surveys only found a single record; in some years, the species is not reported at all. Continued demand from trade; targeted by poachers.
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, CITES (2022)
 

Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, van Balen et al (2023)
 

Species overall assessed to be experiencing population declines and heavy trade (thousands).This particular subspecies continues to face heavy trapping pressure.
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Species overall assessed to be experiencing population declines and heavy trade (thousands). This particular subspecies continues to face heavy trapping pressure.
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Species overall assessed to be experiencing population declines and heavy trade (thousands). Vast reduction in sightings of this subspecies at  regular submontane Sumatran birding sites. Large numbers of this subspecies recorded in Jakarta markets, even outnumbering buxtoni.
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Faces continued and urgent threat from trade
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Irham et al (2023)

Tier 2 - Threatened by trade

COMMON NAME                           SCIENTIFIC NAME                           EXPLANATION & RELEVANT REFERENCES   

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Grey-cheeked Bulbul

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Indochinese Green Magpie (subspecies concolor from Central Vietnam)​

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Indochinese Green Magpie (subspecies chauleti from North Vietnam)

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White-crowned Shama

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White-rumped Shama (subspecies tricolor from Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, West Java)

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Oriental Magpie-robin (subspecies adamsi = Black Magpie Robin from Sabah)

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Oriental Magpie-robin (subspecies pluto = Black Magpie Robin from
East, North and South Kalimantan, Maratua)

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Oriental Magpie-robin (subspecies zacnecus from Simeulue)

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Black-hooded Laughingthrush

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Chestnut-capped Thrush

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Javan Heleia (subspecies elongata from eastern Java)

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Javan Heleia (subspecies javanica from central Java)

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Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush

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Van Hasselt's Sunbird (subspecies axantha from Natuna)

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Bare throated Whistler

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Bar-winged Prinia

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Blue-crowned Laughingthrush (=Courtois’s Laughingthrush)

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Orange-spotted Bulbul

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Ruby-throated Bulbul

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White-bellied Fantail

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White-bibbed Babbler

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Golden-winged Laughingthrush

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Collared Laughingthrush

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Lemon-bellied White-eye (subspecies maxi from small islands north of West Java)

Alophoixus tephrogenys

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Cissa hypoleuca concolor

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Cissa hypoleuca chauleti

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Copsychus stricklandii

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Copsychus malabaricus tricolor

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Copsychus saularis adamsi

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Copsychus saularis pluto

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Copsychus saularis zacnecus

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Garrulax milleti

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Geokichla interpres

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Heleia javanica elongata

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Heleia javanica javanica

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Ianthocincla konkakinhensis

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Leptocoma brasiliana axantha

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Pachycephala nudigula

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Prinia familiaris

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Pterorhinus courtoisi

 

 

 

Pycnonotus bimaculatus

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Pycnonotus dispar

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Rhipidura euryura

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Stachyris thoracica

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Trochalopteron ngoclinhense

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Trochalopteron yersini

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Zosterops chloris maxi

Faces continued threat from trade

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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New listing on Tier 2. This subspecies is range-restricted and populations are declining from trapping. Trade demand, especially international, is increasing (hundreds).

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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New listing on Tier 2. This subspecies is range-restricted and populations are declining from trapping. Trade demand, especially international, is increasing (hundreds).

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Faces continued threat from trade

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Wu et al (2022)

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Faces continued threat from trade

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Wu et al (2022)

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Acknowledgement of separation between subspecies adamsi (larger, all black birds) and pluto. While adamsi are particularly prized in trade and uncommon with restricted distribution, Sabah populations appear to be relatively secure and so do not yet merit Tier 1 status.

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone​​​

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Acknowledgement of separation between adamsi and pluto (smaller, white outertail). While pluto have a relatively wider distribution and are less prized by collectors than adamsi, trapping and trade pressure continue to contribute to declines in Kalimantan.

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone​​

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New listing on Tier 2. Restricted distribution, increasingly difficult to spot in the wild. Local trade demand - often seen in cages, suspected to be substitute species for Barusan Shama.

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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​New listing on Tier 2. Limited distribution, population declines at multiple known sites, emerging trade demand including internationally.

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Faces continued threat from trade

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Range restricted and suspected to be declining in wild, elongata are consistently recorded in Javan markets in moderate and stable numbers (low hundreds).

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Marsden et al (2023)​​​

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Range restricted and suspected to be declining in wild, javanica are consistently recorded in Javan markets in moderate and stable numbers (low hundreds).

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Marsden et al (2023)

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New listing on Tier 2. Population declines, with notable drop in sightings in past 3-4 years in a main known area for the species. Emerging trade demand nationally and internationally.

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone​​​​​​

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While specifically prized by collectors, population declines are not at urgent threat levels yet.

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone​​​

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Downlisted to Tier 2. Previously traded in significant numbers, but seems to have lost popularity (not easy to keep) and now traded in smaller numbers.
Still locally common and widespread in the wild.

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Despite population declines, considerable numbers recorded in trade and high market demand (thousands seized and in markets), still locally common in the wild and widespread across Java.

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, FLIGHT (2023)

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Despite being trapped locally and assessed as CR, recent studies indicate populations in eastern China are secure.

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Gleave et al (2024)

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Faces continued threat from trade

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Faces continued threat from trade

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Berryman & Collar (2023)

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Used to be common and widespread, but population declines recorded. Regularly recorded in trade in moderate numbers.

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Marsden et al (2023)

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Faces continued threat from trade

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone, Marsden et al (2023)

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​​While range restricted and impacted by emerging national and international trade recorded, recently discovered population in Laos thought to be secure due to inaccessibility​

IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone​

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Range restricted, undergoing population declines and impacted by emerging national and international trade recorded. However, this trade appears to be "deluxe" trade in small numbers.

​IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone

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Rare in the wild, but field studies required to ascertain levels of declines. While still in demand for trade, volumes recorded are smaller now than before. 
IUCN Red List, BirdLife Datazone​

Suggested citation:
IUCN SSC ASTSG (2026) Priority Taxon List 2026. IUCN SSC Asian Songbird Trade Specialist Group. [https://www.asiansongbirdtradesg.com/taxa-list]

©2018-2026 BY IUCN SSC ASIAN SONGBIRD TRADE SPECIALIST GROUP

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