Short Note: Interesting sound record of Rufous Twistwing

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.

 

Neotropical News: Colombia creates new National Park

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

 

New Refuge to Protect Neotropical Birds in the Dominican Republic

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

 

The Bogota Sunangel confirmed as valid species

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

 

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