Cherry-throated Tanager
Encyclopedia
The Cherry-throated Tanager, Nemosia rourei, is a medium-sized passerine
bird
. This critically endangered
tanager
is an endemic to handful of localities in the Atlantic Forest in Espírito Santo
, Brazil
, though the possibility that it occurs in adjacent parts of Minas Gerais
and Rio de Janeiro
cannot be discounted. It has a striking, essentially black-white-red plumage
; a photo is online in the abstract of Bauer et al. 1998.
The upper side is ashy grey, with a darker back and a lighter top of the head. A wide black mask extends from the forehead across the eyes, nearly meeting again at the nape; a small white line runs above it, and thus the forehead appears white when seen from the front. The wings and the square-tipped tail are black, with blue iridescence on the primary and secondary wing-coverts, and a striped patch formed by the light grey outer web of the tertiary remiges, with the grey scapular
s sometimes dropping over the wings to form a grey shoulder patch. The uppertail coverts are likewise black, quite long, and have white tips that may have a signal function as they are sometimes prominently presented by the birds. The belly is white, and the throat has a patch of cherry red that varies in extent, in some birds reaching onto the breast. The feet and toenails are dull pink, and the iris is dark yellow.
Males and females probably look much alike, though it may be that the latter have a smaller red throat patch on average. Juveniles apparently have the throat patch dull brown.
In the field, the Cherry-throated Tanager is only likely to be confused with the rather common Paroaria
cardinal-tanagers which have a similar color pattern when seen from a distance. At close range however, the distribution of black in N. roureis plumage is distinctive.
The type specimen is 14 cm (5,5 inch) long, with wings of 8,3 cm (3,25 in) and a tail of about 6 cm (2,4 in) length. Its bill is 1 cm (0,4 in) long along the ridge, 1,5 cm (0,6 in) long along the gape
, and the tarsometatarsus
(lower "leg") measures about 1,9 cm (0,75 in). A specimen banded in 1998 was smaller, at 12,5 cm (c. 5 in); its bill was 5,5 mm (0,22 in) high and 5 mm (0,2 in) wide and it weighed 22 g (0,78 oz).
, an adult male shot by naturalist Jean de Roure and sent by Carl Euler
to describer Jean Cabanis
, who gave it its scientific name honoring the collector. At the time its discovery, the bird was neither known to the veteran collector de Roure, nor to anyone else Euler asked about it. The type specimen was deposited in the Berlin Museum für Naturkunde where it still resides (specimen MNHB 20326), luckily surviving the destruction of much of the MNHB collection in World War II
.
There is some dispute about the type locality; Euler gives "Muriahié" (Muriaé
) at the northern bank of the Paraíba do Sul
, Minas Gerais
(Cabanis 1870), but Pacheco (1999) argued for Macaé de Cima ("Macahé" in the late 19th century) near Nova Friburgo
, Rio de Janeiro state as this was where de Roure's other bird specimens were collected. In addition, neither altitude nor habitat around Muriaé seem to agree with what is known about the species' ecology. This requires final confirmation though, as some patches of forest at the correct altitude seem to remain around Pico do Itajuru between Muriaé and Rosário de Limeira (Venturini et al. 2005), and it is possible that the bird once occurred in the lowlands and now is restricted to higher regions simply because only there suitable habitat still exists. Based on Pacheco's arguments, the Macaé de Cima area was searched, and habitat was found to be ample in Parque Estadual dos Três Picos, though no evidence of birds was found (Venturini et al. 2005). In any case, all but one recent records have come from Espírito Santo state.
The bird essentially remained known only from this single specimen for more than 100 years. Emilia Snethlage
around 1926 mentions a probable pair in the Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro and indeed, "Nemosia rourii" appears in an 1876 collection catalog (Bauer et al. 2000). So it seems that two more birds were shot between 1870 and 1876 by de Rourer, or by an undetermined collector at an unknown date before 1876, possibly even before 1870. In 1940 however these could not be located anymore (Schneider fide Pacheco & Bauer 1995). Helmut Sick
on August 8, 1941 observed a group of 8 near Itarana, but no further action was taken; Sick, later to become one of the foremost experts on Neotropic
al ornithology
, had only arrived in Brazil two years earlier, and knew little if anything about N. rourei (which was not usually mentioned in the ornithological literature). It was not until his examination of the type specimen in 1976 that he realized what he had seen 35 years earlier (Sick 1979).
On October 5, 1995, a bird matching the species' description was observed in a mixed-species feeding flock
at Augusto Ruschi Biological Reserve
(formerly Nova Lombardia B.R.), where the species was already hypothesized to be present given the suitable habitat (Scott 1997).
Another possible sighting on July 17, 1994, was at Fazenda
Pedra Bonita, north of Pirapetinga
in Minas Gerais, but the possibility of a confusion with a Paroaria
cardinal-tanager cannot be excluded, as the bird sketched by the observers in the field had too little dark on the head. In any case, no such bird was again encountered there during several later searches, and the area seems to be too low-lying, only some 150–230 m ASL
.(Venturini et al. 2005)
The theory that Cherry-throated Tanagers are hybrids between Hooded
and Rufous-headed Tanager
s (Sibley 1996) was discussed by Scott (1997) who tentatively rejected it, but some even were convinced that the type specimen is an artifact composed from skins of other species (Silveira fide Bauer et al. 2000). The field data gathered since then supports the validity of the species, which was definitely rediscovered on February 22, 1998 at the Fazenda Pindobas IV, a privately-owned tract of woodland NW of Conceição do Castelo (Bauer et al. 1998, Pacheco 1998).
On September 12, 2003, the species' presence was also confirmed in Caetés Forest, some 20 km (12.4 mi) N of Vargem Alta
. It has been observed with some regularity at both that locality and Fazenda Pindobas IV, though it is always elusive and usually unpredictable in its movements (but see below). Once encountered, birds can be attracted for identification by taped calls of the species. The presence of a population in the larger tracts of habitat at the Augusto Ruschi Biological Reserve - the only known habitat under protection at present - is strongly suspected. A number of other forests where populations may occur have been identified around Itarana (Barra Encoberta, Alto Jatibocas, Alto Santa Maria, Alto Santa Joana), Santa Maria de Jetibá (Plantojo, Simão, Sabino, Cristal, Garrafão and near the Rio Bonito
dam), Domingos Martins
(Chapéu and Paraju), Brejetuba and Muniz Freire, and at the Rio Fundo near Marechal Floriano
; there are some indications that the species is present in at least 3 of these localities, while one of those near Santa Maria de Jetibá, was destroyed in 2004 by illegal logging
.(Venturini et al. 2005)
Despite several searches, the Cherry-throated Tanager was not found in suitable habitat outside Espírito Santo state (Venturini et al. 2005).
; whether the altitude range reflects restriction of habitat or genuine preference is not known. It was never recorded from open forest and usually avoids secondary forest
and plantations (coffee
, eucalyptus
, Pinus elliotti and Pinus patula
), though if the canopy cover is dense enough it may utilize plantations and secondary rainforest as corridors to move between patches of prime habitat.(Venturini et al. 2005)
The Cherry-throated Tanager moves through its habitat singly, in pairs (especially during breeding season) or in small flocks led by a dominant bird. If undisturbed, it utilizes regular "tracks" to visit feeding sites over the course of the day; these tracks vary according to season. It is apparently a resident bird; there is no indication even for altitudinal migrations. The species, like many tanagers, joins mixed-species feeding flocks. Those in which N. rourei was observed to participate were usually led by Sirystes
and contained Chestnut-crowned Becard
s and Rufous-headed Tanager
s as "core" species. The food of adult birds at least seems to consist entirely or nearly entirely of small invertebrate
s such as caterpillar
s, butterflies, ant
s, and other arthropod
s; Eucalyptus
flowers are visited though it is not clear whether to feed on nectar or on nectar-feedng insects. Food is taken by gleaning and clambering through branches to look under leaves as typical for tanagers (Isler & Isler 1987); the birds do not hang down from branches like titmice.(Bauer et al. 2000, Venturini et al. 2005)
A Golden-chevroned Tanager
was once observed to dominate over a Cherry-throated Tanager individual, and a Black-necked Aracari
was seen to attack the species for purposes unknown. There exists an observation of an apparent intraspecific
threat pose, in which the head and neck are extended and held horizontally, and the wings are half-spread.(Venturini et al. 2005)
Longevity is unknown, but not presumed to differ from roughly one decade common among mid-sized passerine
s. The single ringed bird is known to have lived for at least 6 years.(Venturini et al. 2005)
, with an estimated population of between 50 and 249 adult birds. From field data, presently only some 15-20 individuals are known, some of them juvenile, but the continuing existence of this very rare bird for over 100 years suggests further populations await discovery. The major threat to its survival is deforestation leading to further and further habitat fragmentation
and which can reduce habitat to a point where it is too small in extent for a viable population of this species. As with many Atlantic Forest endemics, it seems to have been a rare bird even before the onset of widespread habitat destruction, but why this is so remains unknown.
Though there is an ongoing effort to provide legal protection for Fazenda Pindobas IV as a Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural (Private Natural Heritage Reserve), and at present, the birds there and at Caetés Forest seem safe as logging activity is stalled. Due to its somewhat predictable movements and the readiness with which this attractive species can be enticed into visual range, the Cherry-throated Tanager may become a significant attraction for ecotourism
and/or serve as a flagship species
for protection of lesser-known Atlantic Forest endemics. On the other hand, the birds are somewhat sensitive to disturbance: following a motor rally
that (illegally) crossed Fazenda Pindobas IV, the birds avoided the area disturbed by the vehicles' crossing for some time (Venturini et al. 2005).
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
. This critically endangered
Critically endangered
Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...
tanager
Tanager
The tanagers comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has an American distribution.There were traditionally about 240 species of tanagers, but the taxonomic treatment of this family's members is currently in a state of flux...
is an endemic to handful of localities in the Atlantic Forest in Espírito Santo
Espírito Santo
Espírito Santo is one of the states of southeastern Brazil, often referred to by the abbreviation "ES". Its capital is Vitória and the largest city is Vila Velha. The name of the state means literally "holy spirit" after the Holy Ghost of Christianity...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, though the possibility that it occurs in adjacent parts of Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
and Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro (state)
Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 states of Brazil.Rio de Janeiro has the second largest economy of Brazil behind only São Paulo state.The state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast...
cannot be discounted. It has a striking, essentially black-white-red plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
; a photo is online in the abstract of Bauer et al. 1998.
Description
After Cabanis (1870), Bauer et al. (2000), Venturini et al. (2005):The upper side is ashy grey, with a darker back and a lighter top of the head. A wide black mask extends from the forehead across the eyes, nearly meeting again at the nape; a small white line runs above it, and thus the forehead appears white when seen from the front. The wings and the square-tipped tail are black, with blue iridescence on the primary and secondary wing-coverts, and a striped patch formed by the light grey outer web of the tertiary remiges, with the grey scapular
Scapular
The term scapular as used today refers to two specific, yet related, Christian Sacramentals, namely the monastic and devotional scapulars, although both forms may simply be referred to as "scapular"....
s sometimes dropping over the wings to form a grey shoulder patch. The uppertail coverts are likewise black, quite long, and have white tips that may have a signal function as they are sometimes prominently presented by the birds. The belly is white, and the throat has a patch of cherry red that varies in extent, in some birds reaching onto the breast. The feet and toenails are dull pink, and the iris is dark yellow.
Males and females probably look much alike, though it may be that the latter have a smaller red throat patch on average. Juveniles apparently have the throat patch dull brown.
In the field, the Cherry-throated Tanager is only likely to be confused with the rather common Paroaria
Paroaria
Paroaria, the red-headed cardinals or cardinal-tanagers , are a genus of tanagers. They were until recently placed in the family Emberizidae.Five or six species are placed here...
cardinal-tanagers which have a similar color pattern when seen from a distance. At close range however, the distribution of black in N. roureis plumage is distinctive.
The type specimen is 14 cm (5,5 inch) long, with wings of 8,3 cm (3,25 in) and a tail of about 6 cm (2,4 in) length. Its bill is 1 cm (0,4 in) long along the ridge, 1,5 cm (0,6 in) long along the gape
Gape
In bird anatomy, the gape is the interior of the open mouth of a bird and the gape flange is the region where the two mandibles join together, at the base of the beak...
, and the tarsometatarsus
Tarsometatarsus
The tarsometatarsus is a bone that is found in the lower leg of certain tetrapods, namely birds.It is formed from the fusion of several bones found in other types of animals, and homologous to the mammalian tarsal and metatarsal bones...
(lower "leg") measures about 1,9 cm (0,75 in). A specimen banded in 1998 was smaller, at 12,5 cm (c. 5 in); its bill was 5,5 mm (0,22 in) high and 5 mm (0,2 in) wide and it weighed 22 g (0,78 oz).
Vocalizations
The Cherry-throated Tanager has a clear, far-carrying call, at 5-6 KHz. This note is given singly, or in a row of 2-3 in rapid succession. In the latter case, it is often followed by 2 slightly higher-pitched (8 kHz) notes; an entire 5-note sequence takes a mere second for the bird to utter. There is a kind of song, which consists of the same notes as the call does, interspersed with a more rapid chittering (Bauer et al. 2000).Discovery, disappearance, and rediscovery
The bird was described in 1870 from a single specimenSpecimen
A specimen is a portion/quantity of material for use in testing, examination, or study.BiologyA laboratory specimen is an individual animal, part of an animal, a plant, part of a plant, or a microorganism, used as a representative to study the properties of the whole population of that species or...
, an adult male shot by naturalist Jean de Roure and sent by Carl Euler
Carl Euler
Carl Hieronymus Euler was a Swiss farmer and amateur ornithologist.Euler was born in Basel. In 1853 he travelled to Rio de Janeiro and bought a farm near Cantagalo. He became Swiss vice-consul, and in his spare time collected birds and studied their habits. His findings were published in the...
to describer Jean Cabanis
Jean Cabanis
Jean Louis Cabanis was a German ornithologist.Cabanis was born in Berlin. He studied at the University of Berlin from 1835 to 1839, and then travelled to North America, returning in 1841 with a large natural history collection. He was assistant and later director of the Berlin University Museum,...
, who gave it its scientific name honoring the collector. At the time its discovery, the bird was neither known to the veteran collector de Roure, nor to anyone else Euler asked about it. The type specimen was deposited in the Berlin Museum für Naturkunde where it still resides (specimen MNHB 20326), luckily surviving the destruction of much of the MNHB collection in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
There is some dispute about the type locality; Euler gives "Muriahié" (Muriaé
Muriaé
Muriaé is a city and municipality in southeast Minas Gerais state, Brazil. It is located in the Zona da Mata region and its population in 2009 was approximately 99.628 inhabitants.-Important Facts:*Municipal Limits...
) at the northern bank of the Paraíba do Sul
Paraíba do Sul
thumbThe Paraíba do Sul , or simply termed Paraíba, is a river in the south-east of Brazil. It flows 1,137 kilometres west to northeast from its farthest source at the source of the river Paraitinga to the sea near Campos...
, Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
(Cabanis 1870), but Pacheco (1999) argued for Macaé de Cima ("Macahé" in the late 19th century) near Nova Friburgo
Nova Friburgo
Nova Friburgo is a municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro in southeastern Brazil. It is located in the northern mountainous region of the state, 136 km from its capital Rio de Janeiro...
, Rio de Janeiro state as this was where de Roure's other bird specimens were collected. In addition, neither altitude nor habitat around Muriaé seem to agree with what is known about the species' ecology. This requires final confirmation though, as some patches of forest at the correct altitude seem to remain around Pico do Itajuru between Muriaé and Rosário de Limeira (Venturini et al. 2005), and it is possible that the bird once occurred in the lowlands and now is restricted to higher regions simply because only there suitable habitat still exists. Based on Pacheco's arguments, the Macaé de Cima area was searched, and habitat was found to be ample in Parque Estadual dos Três Picos, though no evidence of birds was found (Venturini et al. 2005). In any case, all but one recent records have come from Espírito Santo state.
The bird essentially remained known only from this single specimen for more than 100 years. Emilia Snethlage
Emilia Snethlage
Maria Emilie Snethlage was a German-born Brazilian naturalist and ornithologist who worked on the bird fauna of the Amazon. Snethlage collected in Brazil from 1905 until her death....
around 1926 mentions a probable pair in the Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro and indeed, "Nemosia rourii" appears in an 1876 collection catalog (Bauer et al. 2000). So it seems that two more birds were shot between 1870 and 1876 by de Rourer, or by an undetermined collector at an unknown date before 1876, possibly even before 1870. In 1940 however these could not be located anymore (Schneider fide Pacheco & Bauer 1995). Helmut Sick
Helmut Sick
Helmut Sick , was a German-Brazilian ornithologist.A prominent ornithologist in Brazil, Sick published more than 200 papers, including his most influential work: Ornitologia Brasileira, Uma Introdução , later translated into English as Birds in Brazil: A Natural History...
on August 8, 1941 observed a group of 8 near Itarana, but no further action was taken; Sick, later to become one of the foremost experts on Neotropic
Neotropic
In biogeography, the Neotropic or Neotropical zone is one of the eight terrestrial ecozones. This ecozone includes South and Central America, the Mexican lowlands, the Caribbean islands, and southern Florida, because these regions share a large number of plant and animal groups.It is sometimes used...
al ornithology
Ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
, had only arrived in Brazil two years earlier, and knew little if anything about N. rourei (which was not usually mentioned in the ornithological literature). It was not until his examination of the type specimen in 1976 that he realized what he had seen 35 years earlier (Sick 1979).
On October 5, 1995, a bird matching the species' description was observed in a mixed-species feeding flock
Mixed-species feeding flock
A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species, that join each other and move together while foraging...
at Augusto Ruschi Biological Reserve
Augusto Ruschi Biological Reserve
Augusto Ruschi Biological Reserve is a biological reserve in Brazil....
(formerly Nova Lombardia B.R.), where the species was already hypothesized to be present given the suitable habitat (Scott 1997).
Another possible sighting on July 17, 1994, was at Fazenda
Fazenda
Fazendas were coffee plantations that spread into the interior of Brazil between 1840 and 1896. They created major export commodities for Brazilian trade, but also led to intensification of slavery in Brazil.- Creation of fazendas :...
Pedra Bonita, north of Pirapetinga
Pirapetinga
Pirapetinga is a town and municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in the Southeast region of Brazil.Its estimated population in 2007 was 10,687 inhabitants .-Geography:...
in Minas Gerais, but the possibility of a confusion with a Paroaria
Paroaria
Paroaria, the red-headed cardinals or cardinal-tanagers , are a genus of tanagers. They were until recently placed in the family Emberizidae.Five or six species are placed here...
cardinal-tanager cannot be excluded, as the bird sketched by the observers in the field had too little dark on the head. In any case, no such bird was again encountered there during several later searches, and the area seems to be too low-lying, only some 150–230 m ASL
Above mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
.(Venturini et al. 2005)
The theory that Cherry-throated Tanagers are hybrids between Hooded
Hooded Tanager
The Hooded Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family.It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela....
and Rufous-headed Tanager
Rufous-headed Tanager
The Rufous-headed Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is endemic to Brazil.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . ...
s (Sibley 1996) was discussed by Scott (1997) who tentatively rejected it, but some even were convinced that the type specimen is an artifact composed from skins of other species (Silveira fide Bauer et al. 2000). The field data gathered since then supports the validity of the species, which was definitely rediscovered on February 22, 1998 at the Fazenda Pindobas IV, a privately-owned tract of woodland NW of Conceição do Castelo (Bauer et al. 1998, Pacheco 1998).
On September 12, 2003, the species' presence was also confirmed in Caetés Forest, some 20 km (12.4 mi) N of Vargem Alta
Vargem Alta, Espírito Santo
Vargem Alta is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo. Its population was 20,066 and its area is 415 km²....
. It has been observed with some regularity at both that locality and Fazenda Pindobas IV, though it is always elusive and usually unpredictable in its movements (but see below). Once encountered, birds can be attracted for identification by taped calls of the species. The presence of a population in the larger tracts of habitat at the Augusto Ruschi Biological Reserve - the only known habitat under protection at present - is strongly suspected. A number of other forests where populations may occur have been identified around Itarana (Barra Encoberta, Alto Jatibocas, Alto Santa Maria, Alto Santa Joana), Santa Maria de Jetibá (Plantojo, Simão, Sabino, Cristal, Garrafão and near the Rio Bonito
Rio Bonito
Rio Bonito can refer to:* East Biggs, California, community formerly called Rio Bonito* Rio Bonito , a river in Lincoln County, New Mexico* Rio Bonito, Guatemala* Rio Bonito, Honduras* Rio Bonito, Venezuela, a town in Monagas state, Venezuela...
dam), Domingos Martins
Domingos Martins
Domingos Martins is the name of a municipality and its capital in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo. According to the IBGE census of 2000, the municipality had 30,559 inhabitants, of which 5,820 were urban dwelling...
(Chapéu and Paraju), Brejetuba and Muniz Freire, and at the Rio Fundo near Marechal Floriano
Marechal Floriano
Marechal Floriano is the capital of a municipality of the same name, in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Once part of the municipality of Domingos Martins, the town of Marechal Floriano separated on October 31, 1991, becoming capital of its own municipality...
; there are some indications that the species is present in at least 3 of these localities, while one of those near Santa Maria de Jetibá, was destroyed in 2004 by illegal logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
.(Venturini et al. 2005)
Despite several searches, the Cherry-throated Tanager was not found in suitable habitat outside Espírito Santo state (Venturini et al. 2005).
Ecology
The verified records of the species were all at altitudes of 850–1,250 m ASL in Atlantic Dense Ombrophyllous Montane Forest ecotoneEcotone
An ecotone is a transition area between two biomes but different patches of the landscape, such as forest and grassland. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local or regional...
; whether the altitude range reflects restriction of habitat or genuine preference is not known. It was never recorded from open forest and usually avoids secondary forest
Secondary forest
A secondary forest is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a major disturbance such as fire, insect infestation, timber harvest or windthrow, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident...
and plantations (coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
, Pinus elliotti and Pinus patula
Pinus patula
Patula pine, pino patula, pinus patula is a tree native to the highlands of Mexico. It grows from 24° to 18° North latitude and 1800 to 2700 m above sea level. 30 m tall...
), though if the canopy cover is dense enough it may utilize plantations and secondary rainforest as corridors to move between patches of prime habitat.(Venturini et al. 2005)
The Cherry-throated Tanager moves through its habitat singly, in pairs (especially during breeding season) or in small flocks led by a dominant bird. If undisturbed, it utilizes regular "tracks" to visit feeding sites over the course of the day; these tracks vary according to season. It is apparently a resident bird; there is no indication even for altitudinal migrations. The species, like many tanagers, joins mixed-species feeding flocks. Those in which N. rourei was observed to participate were usually led by Sirystes
Sirystes
The Sirystes is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is sometimes split into the Eastern Syristes S. sibilator and the Western Syristes S. albogriseus.-Distribution and habitat:...
and contained Chestnut-crowned Becard
Chestnut-crowned Becard
The Chestnut-crowned Becard is a species of bird in the Tityridae family. It has traditionally been placed in Cotingidae or Tyrannidae, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae, where now placed by SACC....
s and Rufous-headed Tanager
Rufous-headed Tanager
The Rufous-headed Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is endemic to Brazil.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . ...
s as "core" species. The food of adult birds at least seems to consist entirely or nearly entirely of small invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s such as caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s, butterflies, ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s, and other arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s; Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
flowers are visited though it is not clear whether to feed on nectar or on nectar-feedng insects. Food is taken by gleaning and clambering through branches to look under leaves as typical for tanagers (Isler & Isler 1987); the birds do not hang down from branches like titmice.(Bauer et al. 2000, Venturini et al. 2005)
A Golden-chevroned Tanager
Golden-chevroned Tanager
The Golden-chevroned Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family.It is endemic to Brazil.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. ....
was once observed to dominate over a Cherry-throated Tanager individual, and a Black-necked Aracari
Black-necked Aracari
The Black-necked Aracari is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It measures 35-45 cm long and weighs 177-309 grams It is a typical but thickset aracari with a single red band across its otherwise yellow chest.It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.Its...
was seen to attack the species for purposes unknown. There exists an observation of an apparent intraspecific
Intraspecific
Intraspecific is a term used in biology to describe behaviors, biochemical variations and other issues within individuals of a single species, thereby contrasting with interspecific. For example:* Intraspecific antagonism...
threat pose, in which the head and neck are extended and held horizontally, and the wings are half-spread.(Venturini et al. 2005)
Longevity is unknown, but not presumed to differ from roughly one decade common among mid-sized passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
s. The single ringed bird is known to have lived for at least 6 years.(Venturini et al. 2005)
Reproduction
No good data exists, but apparent courtship activity was observed in October (Venturini et al. 2005), and birds were observed to collect nest-building material in November (Venturini et al. 2002). What seems to be young birds close to independence but still accompanied by their parents were observed in late February (Bauer et al. 2000). Considering the usual time from egg-laying to fledging is 2–3 weeks in tropical tanagers (Isler & Isler 1987), this would seem to fit rather well with the main nesting season being in December/January, just as in most tanager species with similar ecology.Status
This bird has been classified as critically endangered by BirdLife InternationalBirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...
, with an estimated population of between 50 and 249 adult birds. From field data, presently only some 15-20 individuals are known, some of them juvenile, but the continuing existence of this very rare bird for over 100 years suggests further populations await discovery. The major threat to its survival is deforestation leading to further and further habitat fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation as the name implies, describes the emergence of discontinuities in an organism's preferred environment , causing population fragmentation...
and which can reduce habitat to a point where it is too small in extent for a viable population of this species. As with many Atlantic Forest endemics, it seems to have been a rare bird even before the onset of widespread habitat destruction, but why this is so remains unknown.
Though there is an ongoing effort to provide legal protection for Fazenda Pindobas IV as a Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural (Private Natural Heritage Reserve), and at present, the birds there and at Caetés Forest seem safe as logging activity is stalled. Due to its somewhat predictable movements and the readiness with which this attractive species can be enticed into visual range, the Cherry-throated Tanager may become a significant attraction for ecotourism
Ecotourism
Ecotourism is a form of tourism visiting fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas, intended as a low impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial tourism...
and/or serve as a flagship species
Flagship species
The concept of flagship species is a surrogate species concept with its genesis in the field of conservation biology. The flagship species concept holds that by raising the profile of a particular species, it can successfully leverage more support for biodiversity conservation at large in a...
for protection of lesser-known Atlantic Forest endemics. On the other hand, the birds are somewhat sensitive to disturbance: following a motor rally
Rallying
Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...
that (illegally) crossed Fazenda Pindobas IV, the birds avoided the area disturbed by the vehicles' crossing for some time (Venturini et al. 2005).
External links
- SAVE Brazil (BirdLife Brazil): Fazenda Pindobas IV project page. Retrieved 2007-JUL-28. Contains another photo of a Cherry-throated Tanager.