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 6 May 2019

Species Unseen for 47 Years Rediscovered Near Colombian Town Named for Miracles



Published by surfbirds on April 24, 2019 courtesy of American Bird Conservancysurfbirds archive
The Antioquia Brushfinch, a rusty-crowned Colombian songbird described as a new species 12 years ago, based solely on old museum specimens, eluded scientists until it was documented for the first time in the wild in January 2018. This discovery will be published later this year in the scientific journal Cotinga, in an article by researchers Rodolfo Correa Peña, Sergio Chaparro-Herrera, Andrea Lopera-Salazar, and Juan L. Parra.
Previously known only from three museum specimens collected as recently as 1971, the Antioquia Brushfinch was originally classified as belonging to a more widespread brushfinch species.
The first living bird of this newly described species was originally observed by Rodolfo Correa Peña on Jan. 7, 2018, as he was walking to Sunday mass. Documenting photos were taken the same month. Since then, the Colombian researchers have found additional birds in four patches of remnant habitat, all within the municipality of San Pedro de los Milagros – which translates to Saint Peter of Miracles – in the department of Antioquia.
he Antioquia Brushfinch was first described by ornithologist Thomas Donegan in 2007, after a review of brushfinch specimens in South American and European collections. Donegan noticed three specimens labeled from San Pedro de los Milagros and “Antioquia” generally that were marked as representing the widespread Slaty Brushfinch, but looked different. Two of these specimens were undated, and one was collected in 1971. Many feared that the species “discovered” in the museum drawers was extinct, after several searches over the last 12 years failed to find it.
“Rodolfo Correa Peña’s rediscovery of the Antioquia Brushfinch – seeing it alive for the first time since it’s been declared a distinct species – was a miracle. And he first spotted the brushfinch on his way to Sunday mass!” says Wendy Willis, American Bird Conservancy’s (ABC’s) Deputy Director of International Programs. “It is also remarkable that this species occurs just outside the greater metropolitan area of Medellín, home to more than 3.7 million people, and that it has gone unnoticed until now.”
American Bird Conservancy has supported the research team’s efforts to find more populations of this brushfinch since October 2018, as part of a larger effort to rediscover and conserve “lost” birds. The search for new subpopulations, led by Sergio Chaparro-Herrera, continues. Additionally, the team is investigating the bird’s breeding behavior and the possible threat of nest parasitism by Shiny Cowbirds, which lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, often to the detriment of the hosts’ own young. This research is being conducted with support from a Skutch Research Award from the Association of Field Ornithologists.


No comments:

Post a Comment