As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Monday, 24 November 2014

New Bird Found in Brazil Goes Straight to the Endangered Species List

A new bird species, discovered in Brazil in a narrow strip in the Atlantic Forest, on the coast of the northeastern state of Bahia, has already been reported as endangered. 

The bird was locally called "macuquinho-preto-baiano" and was cataloged under the scientific name Scytalopus gonzagai, after Luis Gonzaga, from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, whose investigations lasted 20 years.

Ornithologist Giovanni Nachtigall Maurício, the main author of the article that describes the species, said that the study estimates the existence of nearly 3 thousand specimens in the area.

"We've made a calculation that indicated around 2,888 birds, [which] led [to its being classified as endangered]", he reported. The assessment entailed the adoption of criteria from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The general rule stipulates that the species, if totaling up to 2,500 individuals, is considered critically imperiled; from 2,500 to 10,000 just endangered; and vulnerable from 10 to 20 thousand.

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