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.
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