BirdLife species factsheet for Grey-headed Greenbul Grey-headed Greenbul Phyllastrephus poliocephalus is restricted to the montane forests of eastern Nigeria and western Cameroon, where it was discovered on the southern slopes of Mt Manenguba in the 1990s (Dowsett-Lemaire and Dowsett 1999), but is not found in the Bamenda Highlands (Stuart 1986) (earlier records from Mt Oku are now known to be in error [Dowsett-Lemaire and Dowsett 1998]). It is currently listed as Near Threatened under B1ab(i,ii,iii) because it was thought to have a moderately small range in which it is threatened by habitat loss and degradation. However, mapping of this species’s range suggests that it is larger than previously thought, with an estimated Extent of Occurrence of 31,400km2. As a result, it no longer qualifies as Near Threatened under the range size criterion. The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as common (del Hoyo et al. 2005) to very common in suitable habitat (P. Hall in litt. 1999, Dowsett-Lemaire and Dowsett 2000). If this information is confirmed, this species would warrant downlisting to Least Concern on the basis that it does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under any of the IUCN Red List criteria. Information is required on the population size and trends of this species. Additional comments on the proposed downlisting are welcome. References: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Christie, D. (2005) Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes. Lynx Edicions: Barcelona, Spain Dowsett-Lemaire, F. and Dowsett, R. J. (1998) Surveys of Oku Mt and other IBAs in NW Province (Cameroon), February-March 1998. Dowsett-Lemaire, F. and Dowsett, R. J. (1999) Survey of birds and amphibians on Mt Manenguba, Mt Nlonako, north Bakossi and around Kupe in 1988-99. Stuart, S. N. (1986) Conservation of Cameroon montane forests. International Council for Bird Preservation: Cambridge, U.K.
The following comments were received from Françoise Dowsett-Lemaire on 20 August 2013:
Poliolais lopezi, Phyllastrephus poliocephalus, Andropadus montanus, Zoothera crossleyi: all are proposed for down-listing to “least concern”. This seems unwise as the montane and semi-montane forests of W. Cameroon are under increasing pressure of deforestation for gardens (e.g. Kupe), and especially in recent years for establishing vast Oil Palm plantations. This has encroached upon some of the Bakossi block of forest, for instance; I don’t have time to carry out a full enquiry into this, but BirdLife ought to.