The distribution, ecology and conservation status of the long-tailed woodnymph Thalurania watertonii

Abstract

Compilation and scrutiny of all accessible specimen and observer records of the long-tailed woodnymph Thalurania watertonii, a hummingbird currently listed as ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List, eliminates Guyana, Pará, Maranhão, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba from its range and sets aside both Sergipe and Bahia as unproven, leaving 29 certain localities, 15 in Pernambuco and 14 in Alagoas, north-east Brazil, all of them in Atlantic Forest and not Cerrado or Caatinga. Among them are records from ten IUCN category I‒IV protected areas (seven in Pernambuco, two in Alagoas and one shared between the two). Remote sensing analysis shows all confirmed localities to contain a total of c.292 km2 of forest (with an extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) of 16,090 and 910 km2, respectively), thus indicating the species qualifies for ‘Vulnerable’ (rather than ‘Endangered’) on the IUCN Red List. However, within the species’ range, we find a maximum total of 2568 km2 of forest, unexplored patches of which may host important populations of this and other threatened species endemic to the ‘Pernambuco Centre of Endemism’. Range-wide research is urgently needed into the condition of these sites and the status of the species within them as well as the general densities, ecology and true distribution of the species, which is now known to breed from October to March, to feed on at least 25 plant species and possibly to need shallow clean-water streams, in order to identify the key measures needed to ensure its survival.

The Alagoas Antwren Myrmotherula snowi is in imminent danger of extinction

“…The factors in the apparent disappearance of the Alagoas Antwren from Pernambuco are likely similar to those that caused the extinction of the Alagoas Foliage-gleaner: extensive habitat loss and degradation, leaving no intact primary forest within its range, and resulting – together with climate change – in the disruption of the supply of moisture to upland forest (Lees et al 2014; Pereira et al 2014). The Alagoas Antwren differs from some other endemic birds of the Pernambuco Centre, such as the Long-tailed Woodnymph Thalurania watertonii (Berryman et al 2023), in being restricted to a narrower elevation band, avoiding forest edges, and having a lower population density: all characteristics that make it more vulnerable to extinction.…”