Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report - IUCN

Butastur indicus Grey-faced Buzzard. Winter visitor and
passage migrant; north B2 , centre B10 , south B2 . Wooded areas
and open country. Many live migrants are sold in Vientiane
each spring. Effects on the population are unknown. Special
Significance: CITES Appendix II.
Buteo buteo Common Buzzard. Winter visitor; north B9 ,
centre B10 . Open country, particularly near water. Delacour and
Jabouille (1940) listed the species from south Lao PDR, but
we have not traced a primary source. Special Significance:
CITES Appendix II.
Ictinaetus malayensis Black Eagle. Resident; north, centre B10 ,
south B9 . Evergreen forest, particularly in hills and mountains.
Special Significance: CITES Appendix II.
• Aquila clanga Greater Spotted Eagle. Conservation
Significance: Globally Threatened - Vulnerable; Little Known
in Lao PDR; CITES Appendix II. Documented Range and
Habitat: Winter visitor; north B7 , centre (provisionally B10 ;
historically B22 ). Open country, particularly near water.
Status Information: Records prior to 1997 were reviewed by
Thewlis et al. (1998). Subsequently, on 1 April 1997 one
flew over Phou Chomvoy, Nam Theun Extension PNBCA.
Four Aquila sp. over Ban Lak (20) on 19 March 1997 may
also have been this species (Tobias 1997). An adult in Ban
Keun zoo had reportedly been captured by a local villager
(RJTiz).
• Aquila heliaca Imperial Eagle. Conservation Significance:
Globally Threatened - Vulnerable; Little Known in Lao PDR;
CITES Appendix I. Documented Range and Habitat: Winter
visitor; north (provisionally, Dymond 1995; historically B21 ),
centre (provisionally B9 ), south B11 . Open country. Status Information:
Records prior to 1997 were reviewed by Thewlis
et al. (1998). Single Aquila sp. flying over the Nakai Plateau
in March 1995 and in Louang-Namtha in December 1995
may have been this species (Dymond 1995, Thewlis et al.
1998). A single was seen in Dong Khanthung PNBCA on 28
March 1997 (JAW in Round 1998). Imperial Eagle was formerly
a common winter visitor to Xiangkhouang Province
(David-Beaulieu 1944). The lack of records elsewhere historically
may merely reflect the difficulties of field identification.
There has been too few recent winter observations in
Xiangkhouang Province to assess this species’s current
status, but it seems unlikely that it is still common there.
Hieraaetus fasciatus Bonelli’s Eagle. Seasonal status unclear,
perhaps vagrant; north (historically B21 ). Sole Lao record was
in open hilly woodland near a lake. A single was shot on 25
December 1939 after living for some days on Phou Chong
Vong, near Xiangkhouang town (David-Beaulieu 1944).
Special Significance: CITES Appendix II.
Hieraaetus pennatus Booted Eagle. Winter visitor, perhaps
vagrant; south B2 . Open and lightly wooded areas. There is
only one Lao record: a single over Xe Pian NBCA in January
1993 (Duckworth 1996c). Special Significance: CITES
Appendix II.
Hieraaetus kienerii Rufous-bellied Eagle. Resident; north B7 ,
centre B10 , south B2 . Forests and their margins, mainly evergreen,
but also in some predominantly deciduous areas; up
to at least 850 m. First recorded in 1993 (Thewlis et al. 1996).
Special Significance: CITES Appendix II.
Spizaetus cirrhatus Changeable Hawk Eagle. Presumed
resident; north B7 , centre B17 , south B5 . Evergreen and deciduous
forests, including open and degraded areas, to at least
1350 m. Special Significance: CITES Appendix II.
Spizaetus nipalensis Mountain Hawk Eagle. Seasonal status
unclear; north B9 , centre B10 , south (Evans et al. 1996b).
Forests, mainly in hills and mountains, but locally as low as
280 m. Special Significance: CITES Appendix II.
Falconidae: Falcons, falconets (10 species)
Birds
• Polihierax insignis White-rumped Falcon. Conservation
Significance: Globally Near-Threatened; Potentially At Risk
in Lao PDR; CITES Appendix II; endemic to Indochina,
Myanmar and Thailand. Documented Range and Habitat:
Resident; centre (historically B22 ), south B14 . Lowland open
deciduous forest (especially some dry dipterocarp forest
types). Status Information: Records prior to 1997 were reviewed
by Thewlis et al. (1998). Historically it was common
and/or widespread in south and central Lao PDR (Engelbach
1932, David-Beaulieu 1949-1950). This description could not
be applied to today’s situation, in which small numbers have
been found locally in six recent survey areas (Table 11): Xe
Bang-Nouan and Xe Pian NBCAs and Phou Kathong and
Dong Khanthung PNBCAs, once at Don Khong and once
near the inflow of the Xe Namnoy to the Xe Kong in 1997
(Davidson et al. 1997, Round 1998, Thewlis et al. 1998, PD).
Microhierax caerulescens Collared Falconet. Resident;
north B1 , centre (historically B22 ), south B2 . Open forest, forest
edge and adjacent secondary growth in lowlands and foothills.
Lao records prior to 1996 were reviewed in Duckworth
(1996a). The species’s conservation status should be reconsidered
at regular intervals as it is known from rather few
sites over a restricted geographical and altitudinal range.
Special Significance: CITES Appendix II.
• Microhierax melanoleucos (= M. melanoleucus, ^Sm) Pied
Falconet. Conservation Significance: Globally Near-
Threatened; Little Known in Lao PDR; CITES Appendix II.
Documented Range and Habitat: Resident; north B8 , centre B14 .
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