Now [...]]]>

Are you familiar with Flickr? If not, Flickr is a great online tool to share photos. The problem is that Flickr is so popular that sometimes it is a bit hard to find exactly what we want. To help with this situation there are groups where users can share photos grouped according to different subjects.

Now let’s talk about the subject that interests us, birds. On Flickr there are many groups for birds. Some of them are related to families of birds, hummingbirds, owls, shorebirds, etc.

Others are classified depending on the geographical location. Globally the most ambitious and organized group is Field Guide: Birds of the World, with photographs of more than 6000 species of birds. In the Neotropical region we have a great group called Neotropical Birds. Then each country has their own group, for example Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil. Amazing right? But there was a very important country not part of this list…

Although it seems incredible Peru did not have a group on Flickr to organize its bird photos. This situation changed 48 hours ago with the creation of Birds of Peru. The idea of the group is to organize and classify pictures of all species (and hopefully someday subspecies) of birds of Peru. If you have traveled to Peru and have pictures of birds please add them to the group and do not forget to put a tag with the scientific and english names to help organize our index. On the other hand, if you’ve never been to Peru, take look at the photos and see what you are missing!

So far the group is working very well, with over 500 photos submitted during the first 24 hours! Very soon we will enable an area where you can discuss various topics related to birds of Peru and there will be a section designed to help with bird ID. I hope that many birders join the group and take advantage of this resource.

On February 9th, Dr. [...]]]>

The Tapaculos (genus Scytalopus) is one of the most difficult to identify families of birds, mainly because of the similarity in appearance to others within the genus. However an important differentiating characteristic is their voice. In recent years many new species of Tapaculos have been described due to analyses of their song.

On February 9th, Dr. Niels Krabbe and Dr. Daniel Cadena from Fundación ProAves Colombia published in Zootaxa a revision to the Paramo Tapaculo. They identifed multiple taxa (three differentiated lineages), including a new subspecies – Scytalopus opacus androstictus – from southern Ecuador and northernmost Peru. The original “Paramo Tapaculo” has changed its name to "Paramillo Tapaculo" (Scytalopus canus) and is now only known from a highly restricted area of timberline vegetation on Paramo de Paramillo and Paramo del Sol. The subspecies Scytalopus canus opacus has been given species ranking and given the name Paramo Tapaculo (Scytalopus opacus) which occurs across the Northern Andes of Colombia (except the Western Cordillera), Ecuador and northernmost Peru.

  Paramillo Tapaculo | ProAves Colombia

At present the Paramillo Tapaculo is only known from Páramo de Paramillo and Páramo de Frontino. It may occur elsewhere in the Cordillera Occidental of Colombia. The Paramillo Tapaculo is restricted to a narrow swath of treeline vegetation (scrub, stunted trees and Polylepis woodland) situated between montane forest and Páramo grasslands that is often just hundreds of meters wide. While locally common, the estimated area of suitable habitat within the known range of the Paramillo Tapaculo is 3 km² in total. Only 0.1 km² is effectively protected by the Fundación ProAves Colibri del Sol Bird Reserve.

According to ProAves Colombia, the Paramillo Tapaculo has not been assessed by IUCN. Given the estimated extent of occurrence and observed decline in the extent and quality of habitat, the Paramillo Tapaculo probably warrants IUCN Critically Endangered status with immediate efforts to assess its population and implement actions to assist its survival.

Listen to the song of the Paramillo Tapaculo:

Paramillo Tapaculo

For more songs follow the Xeno-Canto link

In the last months of 2009, residents of this area of cloud forest saw two pairs of Andean condors flying over the mountains. A juvenile was later found when, in [...]]]>

After 50 years of absence, the Andean Condor has started to regain lost ground in the mountains of Leymebamba in the Amazon region of Peru.

In the last months of 2009, residents of this area of cloud forest saw two pairs of Andean condors flying over the mountains. A juvenile was later found when, in trying to learn to fly, it broke a leg and was caught in the trees. Fortunately it was rescued by the researcher Adriana von Hagen who took care of the juvenile for three weeks until it completely recovered and was subsequently released.

Juvenile Andean Condor | Adriana von Hagen

The Forestry and Wildlife authority of the Amazonas, took the opportunity to raise awareness among local people, who have the mistaken belief that the carrion birds are to blame for the death and disappearance of their cattle and other animals.

The Andean Condors are associated with the popular Lake of the Condors which is in the vicinity of Leymebamba, where several years ago archaeologists uncovered hundreds of Chachapoyas mummies that are now part of an exhibition in the Leymebamba Museum.

©Joseph Tobias

According to Lane et al. 2007 “Mechanical noises have been noted in both species of Cnipodectes. Hilty and Brown (1986: 483) [...]]]>

Andrew Spencer recorded for the first time the effect of the twist in the wings of the recently described Rufous Twisting (Cnipodectes superrufus) during a slow wingbeat flight between perches .

©Joseph Tobias

According to Lane et al. 2007 “Mechanical noises have been noted in both species of Cnipodectes. Hilty and Brown (1986: 483) note that C. subbrunneus "can produce a very audible pr’r'r’r'r’r’ in flight with wings." This description is similar to mechanical sounds T.V.H. witnessed, performed by C. superrufus at Kirigueti. In response to playback, Valqui observed the bird approaching aggressively, making an accelerating and decelerating buzzing noise, while flying -4 m off the ground. Although it was not clear what the source of the sound was, it seems likely that it was mechanical and produced by the wings”

You can listen the sound here.

The Government of Colombia announced last night that it was creating a new national park at the request of the local indigenous community. This is a major step forward in the complicated relationship between conservationists and indigenous groups.

Black Curassow

The Yaigojé Apaporis Park – was created to safeguard an area of more [...]]]>

The Government of Colombia announced last night that it was creating a new national park at the request of the local indigenous community. This is a major step forward in the complicated relationship between conservationists and indigenous groups.

Black Curassow

The Yaigojé Apaporis Park – was created to safeguard an area of more than 1,056,523 hectares (about 2,610,725 acres) of forest at the intersection of the Amazon Basin and the Guiana Shield, and will be managed by the indigenous groups who inhabit the Connecticut-sized area.

The area – which straddles the banks of the Caquetá River and its tributary, the Apaporis River – is home to the Tanimuka,  Letuama, Makuna, Yuhup, Barasano, Itana, Eduria and Tatuyo ethnic groups, and was previously classified as an indigenous reserve. However, this status – under existing Colombian legislation – did not provide the communities with the power to protect their land when a Canadian gold-mining company began prospecting in the area two years ago.

So the communities looked to a solution that would increase their rights to oversee the future of the land – the creation of a national park. They worked with Conservation International and the Gaia Amazonas Foundation to appeal to the country’s National Parks Unit to better protect the region’s resources.

Fabio Arjona, Executive Director of Conservation International in Colombia said: “The announcement is a hugely significant step forward for conservation, both globally and in Colombia. It has helped to break-down barriers that have existed between conservation and indigenous groups – who initially resisted efforts to increase protection in their forests because of concerns that it would reduce their ability to manage the lands as they wish to. But in creating this new park we have worked together to create an area that protects both the rights of indigenous people and this hugely important area of forest.”

The area’s lowland forests have great biodiversity and shelter unique and threatened species such as the Black Curassow (Crax alector), the brown wooly monkey (Lagothrix lagotricha) and the endemic Apaporis river caiman  (Caiman crocodilus apaporiensis).

www.conservation.org

Photo: ©XKD

“With 30 endemic bird species, Hispaniola ranks high in global importance for bird conservation,” said Dr. George Wallace, American Bird Conservancy’s Vice [...]]]>

Leonel Fernández, President of the Dominican Republic, has announced the creation of a new refuge “Reserva Biologica Loma Charco Azul” on the northwestern border of Sierra de Bahoruco National Park, a global biodiversity hotspot.

“With 30 endemic bird species, Hispaniola ranks high in global importance for bird conservation,” said Dr. George Wallace, American Bird Conservancy’s Vice President of Oceans and Islands. “With forests in Haiti virtually gone and an accelerated rate of forest loss in the Dominican Republic, many of these species face a bleak future—of the 30 species, 14 are ranked by IUCN as globally threatened. That’s why expanding land protected in the vicinity of Sierra de Bahoruco is so important and such a significant accomplishment.”

Hispaniolian Parrot ©Pedro Genaro Rodríguez

In addition, over 30 species of Neotropical migratory birds have been recorded there; they form an important component of the biodiversity during the northern winter, making up more than 50% of the bird life in some habitats, particularly pine forests.

The Bahoruco National Park is the most important remaining forested site for endemic birds in the Dominican Republic. The park is seriously threatened by slash and burn agriculture, hunting, the collection of birds for the pet trade, and potentially mining and unplanned tourism development.

Bay-breasted Cuckoo ©Lance Woolaver

This site, is the global stronghold for three endangered species—Bay-breasted Cuckoo, La Selle Thrush, and Hispaniolan Crossbill—and five more that are globally vulnerable—Hispaniolan Parrot, Hispaniolan Parakeet, Golden Swallow, Chat Tanager, and White-winged Warbler. Other endangered species such a Bicknell’s Thrush and the Black-capped Petrel are also present.

More information from American Bird Conservancy here.

Special thanks to Pedro Genaro Rodríguez for the Hispaniolan Parrot photo, con can see more photos in his website www.pedrogenaro.com

Last night I was finishing the first part of a series of posts about Lost and Extinct bird species when I saw this news on Neotropical Birds site:

“The Bogota Sunangel lived! – confirmed as valid species”

This small hummingbird is know only because a single specimen that was purchased on 1909 in Bogota. It was probably [...]]]>

Last night I was finishing the first part of a series of posts about Lost and Extinct bird species when I saw this news on Neotropical Birds site:

“The Bogota Sunangel lived! – confirmed as valid species”

This small hummingbird is know only because a single specimen that was purchased on 1909 in Bogota. It was probably collected in the East Andes or Central Andes of Colombia, within a few hundred kilometers of the capital. Its true provenance is impossible to determine, however, as some ‘Bogotá’ trade-skins came from much further afield, at least as far away as Venezuela and Ecuador.

Until very recently they were discussions about his status as a species (see SACC prop. 57)

According to J. Kirchman et al.:

We use mtDNA sequence data to confirm that the controversial 100-year-old holotype of the Bogotá sunangel (Heliangelus zusii) represents a valid species. We demonstrate that H. zusii is genetically well differentiated from taxa previously hypothesized to have given rise to the specimen via hybridization. Phylogenetic analyses place H. zusii as sister to a clade of mid- to high-elevation Andean species currently placed in the genera Taphrolesbia and Aglaiocercus. Heliangelus zusii, presumed extinct, has never been observed in nature by biologists.

Although confirmed as a valid species, there seems to be little hope that the Bogota Sunangel survives.  But there always is the possibility that it persists in some poorly explored portion of the Andes. Now, at least, field ornithologists have renewed reason to search for this mysterious bird. If we assume an ecological similarity to other sunangels, it should be looked for in humid Andean forest and well-developed shrublands between 1,500 and 3,400 m, especially in remote portions of the Colombian cordilleras.

More birds are waiting to be studied © Bill Lynch

Immediately started to think about all the other species that are preserved in museums waiting for someone to carefully study them and confirm their validity as species.

If you want to know more about other “Lost” birds don´t miss my new blog series starting this afternoon.

References:

Kirchman, J., Christopher C. Witt, Jimmy A. McGuire, and Gary R. Graves (2009)
DNA from a 100-year-old holotype confirms the validity of a potentially extinct hummingbird species Biol Lett: rsbl.2009.0545v1-rsbl20090545

Graves, G. (1993) Relict of a Lost World: A new Species of Sunangel (TROCHILIDAE: Heliangelus) from Bogota. The Auk 110(1): 1-8.

All photos under Creative Commons License