Agapornis nigrigenis is a chordate, or more specifically a bird, in the Psittacidae family.

Agapornis nigrigenis is commonly known (its common name) as the Black-Cheeked Lovebird in English. In French (Français), Agapornis nigrigenis is commonly known as the Inséparable À Joues Noires or Perruche À Joue Noire. In Spanish (Español), Agapornis nigrigenis is commonly known as the Inseparable Cachetón.

Agapornis nigrigenis is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Agapornis nigrigenis's population trend was decreasing at last assessment, meaning its numbers are declining in the wild.

Species Authority: The species authority, or the name(s) of scientist(s) or person(s) who first described Agapornis nigrigenis is Sclater, 1906 (IUCN Red List).

Country Distribution: Agapornis nigrigenis is found in the following countries:

Botswana, Namibia?, Zambia, Zimbabwe [RE?] (IUCN Red List).

Biome(s)/Ecosystem(s): IUCN lists the following as biomes for Agapornis nigrigenis: Terrestrial (IUCN Red List).

Major Habitat(s): 1.5 Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Dry 11.1 Artificial/Terrestrial - Arable Land (IUCN Red List).

Range: Agapornis nigrigenis occurs patchily in south-west Zambia between the Kafue river to the north and the Zambezi river to the south⁸, with an Extent of Occurrence of c.14,400 km, within which the core breeding areas cover c.2,500 km ^2,4. It used to occur more widely^2,4, although some isolated historical records may reflect feral populations⁴, as may unconfirmed records from the eastern Caprivi region of Namibia^2,4. It has also been recorded from Botswana, and as possibly breeding in Zimbabwe. In 1994, the overall population density in presumed breeding habitat was c.2.2 birds/km (this does not reflect their clumped distribution¹⁰) and the total population was estimated to be 10,000 individuals⁴. Evidence from farmers and bird-trappers suggests that this is a considerably lower total than in the early 20th century^4,7. (IUCN Red List).

CONSERVATION STATUS

Red List Category & Criteria: Agapornis nigrigenis is listed as VU C2a(ii) ver 3.1 (2001) (IUCN Red List).

Year Assessed: Agapornis nigrigenis's status was assessed in 2006 (IUCN Red List).

Assessor: Agapornis nigrigenis's Red List status was evaluated by BirdLife International (IUCN Red List).

Red List Evaluator: The Red List Evaluator for Agapornis nigrigenis is listed by IUCN as Butchart, S. & Pilgrim, J. (BirdLife International Red List Authority) (IUCN Red List).

Red List Rational / Justification : Agapornis nigrigenis is listed by IUCN for the following: This species is listed as Vulnerable since it has a small population which is undergoing a continuing decline owing to habitat loss and degradation, particularly gradual dessication of water bodies. (IUCN Red List).

Red List History: Agapornis nigrigenis was listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 1988 (IUCN Red List).

Data Sources for IUCN data: The following is a list of citations from the IUCN web site for Agapornis nigrigenis:

Citations listed by IUCN

Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. (compilers and editors) 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Bird Reference Citations. The numbers inserted in the text accounts above (usually in bold) refer to references. For further details on these references, click on the BirdLife International link above to go to the specific species account on the BirdLife web site. In some cases, particularly in the taxonomic notes, the references are cited using the author names. Details for these can be found on the BirdLife International web site at the following two places:
For References from A–L.
For References from M–Z.

BirdLife International 2006. Threatened Birds of the World 2006. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 04/05/2006.

BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.

BirdLife International. 2004 Threatened Birds of the World 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.

Collar, N.J. and Andrew, P. 1988. Birds to Watch. The ICBP World Checklist of Threatened Birds. ICBP Technical Publication No. 8. Page Bros. (Norwich) Ltd, Norfolk, England.

Collar, N.J., Crosby, M.J. and Stattersfield, A.J. 1994. Birds to Watch 2. The World List of Threatened Birds BirdLife International. Page Bros (Norwich) Ltd, U.K.

IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1986. 1986 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN. 1990. 1990 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

(IUCN Red List).

Links: IUCN Red List Profile for Agapornis nigrigenis (IUCN Red List).

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