Justification This species is Endangered owing to its very small and declining range. There are recent records from only three areas and suitable habitat continues to be significantly reduced by conversion to coffee cultivation.

Family/Sub-family Thraupidae

Species name author (Sclater, 1866)

Taxonomic source(s) AOU checklist (1998 + supplements), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993), Stotz et al. (1996)

Identification 15 cm. Predominantly sky-blue tanager. Purplish-azure crown. Black lores and iris form masked appearance. Mottled green mantle. Pale sky-blue rump and uppertail. Black central tail feathers edged blue. Paler underparts scaled black on upper breast. Black scapulars, and greater and median wing-coverts (narrowly edged blue on greaters). Azure outer webs of remiges, black inner webs of flight feathers. Voice Twittering and high sii calls. High wi sseeu song.

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

2,500-9,999

decreasing

1,700 km²

No

Range & population Tangara cabanisi occurs in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas of south-west Mexico and adjacent Guatemala. It is known from five localities in Mexico, but the only recent records are from El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve. In Guatemala, it has been recorded on the southern slope of Volcán Santa María, at Dos Marías Reserve, San Marcos⁵, at Tajumulco volcano, Atitlán volcano, and in middle valley of Madre Vieja River north of Pochuta⁶. Despite this restricted distribution, it is apparently locally common in these areas^4,5. Nesting has been observed on Santa María volcano and on Atitlán volcano⁶.

Important Bird Areas Click here to view map showing IBAs where species is recorded and triggers any of the IBA criteria.

Ecology: It inhabits humid broadleaf evergreen forest at 1,000-1,700 m in Mexico, but has been recorded above 1,800 m in Guatemala³. Most sightings are between 1,250-1,650 m. It has been recorded in degraded and edge habitats, including coffee plantations adjacent to primary forest, where it has also been observed nesting¹⁰. Despite on occasions being more visible in edge environments, it mostly forages in the upper strata and canopy of pristine forest, and may undertake local movements in response to the maturing syconia of Ficus trees³. It breeds in the early wet season, from mid-April to mid-June; it was previously reported to have a distinct nesting preference for Ficus cookii², however nests have now been located in a pine Pinus, cypress trees Cupressus sp.(3) and in an Inga sp., used as shade trees in a coffee plantation¹⁰. It is highly social, and flocks of up to 26 birds have been recorded¹.

Threats Its altitudinal range coincides with the optimal land for coffee cultivation. More than one-third of the Mexico's coffee is grown in Chiapas, and production has been centred on the Pacific slope of the Sierra Madre since the beginning of the 20th century. Agricultural land is expanding because new settlements in the mountains are legally leasing unprotected, national territory land. Pressure on the species' habitat is expected to increase, because of a rapidly growing human population (35% from 1994 to 2002)¹⁰.

Conservation measures underway It occurs in El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, but mostly in the buffer zone which is occupied by several small but expanding communities. Of the eight sites where it has been recorded recently in Guatemala, seven have a legal protection status, including several private nature reserves. These reserves include coffee plantations and primary forest. By offering tourism services (including birdwatching), some of these reserves put a value to primary habitats, which benefits the local population economically¹⁰.

Conservation measures proposed Survey habitat between known areas. Ensure effective habitat conservation in El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve. Designate a protected area on the south-west slope of Volcán Santa María. Promote habitat conservation and restoration in the altitudinal belt between 1000 and 1800 m in the Guatemalan IBAs Tacana-Tajumulco, Santiaguito Volcano, Atitlan, and Antigua Guatemala⁷. Improve management of protected areas to prevent illegal loggings and forest fires.

References Collar et al. (1992). Heath and Long (1991). 1. T. Gullick per M. Thompson in litt. (1998). 2. Gómez de Silva (1997). 3. J. F. Hernandez in litt. (1998). 4. M. Thompson in litt. (1998). 5. Cooper (2003). 6. Eisermann and Avendaño (2007a). 7. Eisermann and Avendaño (2007b). 8. Long and Heath (1994). 9. MAGA (2006). 10. K. Eisermann in litt. (2007).

Further web sources of information

Fully detailed species account from the Threatened birds of the Americas: the BirdLife International Red Data Book (BirdLife International 1992). Please note, taxonomic treatment and IUCN Red List category may have changed since publication.

Recuento detallado de la especie tomado del libro Aves Amenazadas de las Americas, Libro Rojo de BirdLife International (BirdLife International 1992). Nota: la taxonomoía y la categoría de la Lista Roja de la UICN pudo haber cambiado desde esta publicación.

Text account compilers David Capper (BirdLife International), Isabel Isherwood (BirdLife International), Simon Mahood (BirdLife International), Rob Pople (BirdLife International)

Contributors Knut Eisermann, T Gullick, J. F. Hernandez, M. Thompson

IUCN Red List evaluators Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Gopinathan Maheswaran (Bombay Natural History Society), Simon Mahood (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Tangara cabanisi. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/2/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

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