False Sunbirds and Asities: Philepittidae

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists the yellow-bellied sunbird-asity as Endangered, facing a very high risk of extinction, and Schlegel's asity as Near Threatened, in danger of becoming threatened with extinction. The Endangered designation for the yellow-bellied sunbird-asity may be based on old data in which the species was believed to inhabit only a few mountain forest areas. According to a recent article by Prum and Razafindratsita, more recent surveys have found the yellow-bellied sunbird-asity to be widely distributed and plentiful throughout mountain forests along most of the east coast of Madagascar, and all four species of asity to be plentiful in their ranges and in no danger of extinction. The common sunbird-asity has been found in densities of a thousand individuals per 0.4 square miles (1 square kilometer). Yellow-bellied asities have been recorded in densities of over 2,600 individuals per 0.4 square miles (1 square kilometer).