5 thoughts on “Red-billed Helmetshrike (Prionops caniceps)”
There is an error in your description of the range of subspecies. Nominate ruficeps stops in SW Ghana. East of the Volta, it is the race harterti, including Volta Region, the highlands of SW Togo and also Benin. (cf. Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 2014. The BIrds of Ghana. An atlas & Handbook. and 2019. The BIrds of Benin and Togo. An atlas and handbook. Tauraco Press. ) Harterti extends in fact from E Ghana to W Cameroon. It is morphologically intermediate between ruficeps and rufiventris, and vocally harterti is closer to rufiventris. Thus the inclusion of harterti in P. caniceps as a species separate from rufiventris makes little sense and we prefer to retain them all as races.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 25 April 2025. We will now analyse and interpret the information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List category on this page on 25 April 2025, when discussions will re-open.
Thank you, Françoise, for your comment. At present, BirdLife International recognises Prionops rufiventris as a separate species, the Rufous-bellied Helmetshrike, and it is therefore not included within the scope of this assessment. BirdLife is one of the organisations working towards a harmonised global checklist of birds with the first version of AviList, due to be published this summer (see https://datazone.birdlife.org/about-our-science/taxonomy). The ongoing process for proposing taxonomic changes will be through the AviList process.
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2025 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classification outlined in the initial forum discussion.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 4 May 2025, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2025 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in October 2025, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the information, and a final decision on this species’ Red List category will be posted on this page on 12 May 2025.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Red-billed Helmetshrike is recommended to be listed as Near Threatened, approaching thresholds under Criteria A2c+3c+4c .
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2025.2 GTB Forum process. The final Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in October 2025, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
There is an error in your description of the range of subspecies. Nominate ruficeps stops in SW Ghana. East of the Volta, it is the race harterti, including Volta Region, the highlands of SW Togo and also Benin. (cf. Dowsett-Lemaire & Dowsett 2014. The BIrds of Ghana. An atlas & Handbook. and 2019. The BIrds of Benin and Togo. An atlas and handbook. Tauraco Press. ) Harterti extends in fact from E Ghana to W Cameroon. It is morphologically intermediate between ruficeps and rufiventris, and vocally harterti is closer to rufiventris. Thus the inclusion of harterti in P. caniceps as a species separate from rufiventris makes little sense and we prefer to retain them all as races.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 25 April 2025. We will now analyse and interpret the information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List category on this page on 25 April 2025, when discussions will re-open.
Preliminary proposal
Thank you, Françoise, for your comment. At present, BirdLife International recognises Prionops rufiventris as a separate species, the Rufous-bellied Helmetshrike, and it is therefore not included within the scope of this assessment. BirdLife is one of the organisations working towards a harmonised global checklist of birds with the first version of AviList, due to be published this summer (see https://datazone.birdlife.org/about-our-science/taxonomy). The ongoing process for proposing taxonomic changes will be through the AviList process.
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2025 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classification outlined in the initial forum discussion.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 4 May 2025, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2025 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in October 2025, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the information, and a final decision on this species’ Red List category will be posted on this page on 12 May 2025.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Red-billed Helmetshrike is recommended to be listed as Near Threatened, approaching thresholds under Criteria A2c+3c+4c .
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2025.2 GTB Forum process. The final Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in October 2025, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.