Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird (Amazilia castaneiventris)

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EN	Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird Amazilia castaneiventris

2010 IUCN Red List Category (as evaluated by BirdLife International - the official Red List Authority for birds for IUCN): Endangered

Justification This species has been downlisted to Endangered because while it remains range restricted within a fragmented landscape in which continuing declines are likely, it is now known to have a larger range than was previously thought within which comparatively extensive areas of suitable habitat remain. It also appears to be tolerant of somewhat degraded and human modified habitats.

Family/Sub-family Trochilidae

Species name author Gould, 1856

Taxonomic source(s) SACC (2005 + updates), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993), Stotz et al. (1996)

Identification 8.4 cm. Small hummingbird with rufous underparts and tail. Shining reddish-bronze above becoming greyish-buff on rump. Glittering green throat and chest. Rufous-chestnut lower underparts and tail. Small, white leg-puffs. Black, straightish bill with pinkish base to lower mandible. Similar spp. Rufous-tailed Hummingbird A. tzacatl is very similar, but has dingy-grey lower underparts. Voice Gives an excited "grr-grr" when defending a territory against attack from conspecifics or other hummingbirds¹¹.

Population estimate	Population trend	Range estimate (breeding/resident)	Country endemic?
1,000-2,499	decreasing	3,200 km²	Yes

Range & population Amazilia castaneiventris was formerly known from the slopes of the Serranía de San Lucas, Colombia where one specimen was taken in 1947 on the east slope serranía in Bolívar, but this population has not been rediscovered despite rapid assessment searches in 1999-2001¹⁵. Today, it appears to be restricted to the dryer parts of the Magdalena Valley, Colombia, with a core known range in the Chicamocha, Suarez and Chucuri valleys. Although there are various sites where the species is now known to be found, it is somewhat unpredictable in occurrence (partly influenced by poorly understood seasonal movements) and, at least in the Yariguies area, not locally abundant. Recent records from the rio Chucurri basin and La Paz are outside of and generally more humid than the dry valley system that forms the core of its range^12,14. Extensive survey work by Fundacion ProAves has recorded the species at 14 sites. There are historic records from two sites in Santander (in 1962 and 1963), and three in Boyacá including the 1977 specimen from Tipacoque; recent work has again recorded the species at Tipacoque¹³, there was a sighting in 2000 at Villa de Leyva⁴, and it has now been recorded in five municipalities including a rediscovered population in the environs of Soatá^8,9,10. Historically, it was locally common, but trends are difficult to assess owing to a lack of baseline data. The species is often inexplicably rare in apparently suitable habitats and may go unrecorded for periods¹³; elsewhere it appears to be resident. The increase in records of the species owes much to increased observer effort, but also may reflect nomadic movements in recent years linked to flowering events on which the species relies to some degree¹². The global population has been roughly estimated at 3,780 individuals by extrapolating its known territory size by the area of suitable habitat¹⁴; however, it is unlikely to be evenly distributed throughout suitable habitats and this figure may represent an overestimate.

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

Ecology: It inhabits dry valleys and some humid sites at 850-2,200 m, and possibly as low as 120 m in the Serranía de San Lucas (though the species has not been rediscovered at this site since its collection there, despite rapid assessment of the area in 1999-2001¹⁵). Many records come from forest borders, bushy canyons and semi-arid areas vegetated with shrubs and low trees⁴; the species apparently shows a preference for rivers and streams, but is regularly recorded at roadside flowering trees¹¹. The species is tolerant of habitat degradation, having been recorded in pastures, fruit crops, coffee plantations and xerophytic scrub, where it exploits a wide variety of floral resources, e.g. cactus, guamo (Inga spp), banana (Musa sp), coffee and yatago (Trychanthera gigantea) flowers¹². It is also tolerant of human activities; fieldwork since 2004 has identified new sites, expanded the range and provided new information that emphasizes the species is adapted to heavily altered landscapes. For example, the Cerulean Warbler Bird Reserve in San Vicente de Chucuri, Santander, has both shade coffee and primary forest areas; three years of surveys by many groups and individuals across these habitats and area have only ever found castaneiventris in shade coffee, hedgerows and pasturelands (never in primary forest), while the species moves between available resources¹⁶. The breeding season is December-February¹². The species benefits from bee-keeping which promotes the planting of melliferous vegetation used by hummingbirds⁸. Movements are not well understood; it is sedentary within parts of its range¹⁴, but in the driest areas it seems to undertake nomadic movements/short-distnace migration in response to dry condistions when key floral resources may be unavailable¹².

Threats The Sagamoso and Lebrija valley systems support large human populations and have long been areas of high agricultural production. Natural habitat has been severely fragmented, and generally replaced by coffee plantations, light woodland and, to a lesser extent, pastures and plantain and sugarcane plantations (the latter is used for biofuel production). Semi-arid habitats are less threatened than humid forest⁴, but are affected by livestock-grazing and seasonal burning for farming⁵. The Serranía de San Lucas had held the largest tract of intact forest in north-west South America, but a gold rush began in 1996, and most of the eastern slopes have since been settled, logged and converted for agricultural and coca production^1,2,3,5. Mining and cocaine production cause stream pollution^2,3,5. Immigration is continuing as road and oil pipelines extend into formerly inaccessible areas^1,5. It apparently suffers from subsistence hunting for food^8,12. Logging activities may have a negative impact¹².

Conservation measures underway CITES Appendix II. The Chicamocha Project has identified 14 sites that hold the species, concentrating searches primarily in the dry valley system that drains the western slope of the East Andes in Colombia. Fundacion Colibri, Organizacion Ambiental Ocotea and Fundacion Ecodiversidad have worked with Amazilia castaneiventris since 2002, with community involvement at a reserve that supports the species. They intend to start a banding programme to study the species's ecology from December to February. NGOs have conducted activites with school children in elementary schools in four veredas municipalities of Soatá. Unlike other species found in the Yariguies, the new National Park there is probably not a significant step forwards for conservation of this species; the only known localities fall outside the Yariguies National Park boundary. However, there are localities in the relatively new Chicamocha National Park¹⁵.

Conservation measures proposed Determine its status in the Serranía de San Lucas, at politically safe historical sites and in protected areas, such as Guanentá-Alto Río Fonce. Research its natural history and habitat preferences, in particular its dependence on Trichanthera gigantea^5,12. Prepare action plans for conservation of habitat within its range^2,7. Protect areas of suitable habitat found to hold the species^2,7. Raise awareness of conservation issues through educational campaigns². Reforest areas, introducing yatago (Trichanthera) flowers¹².

References Collar et al. (1992). 1. A. Cuervo in litt. (1999). 2. L. Dávalos in litt. (1999). 3. Donegan and Salaman (1999). 4. López-Lanús (2002). 5. P. G. W. Salaman in litt. (1999). 6. F. G. Stiles in litt. (1999). 7. T. Züchner in litt. (1999). 8. Cortes-Herrera et al. (2006). 9. Chavez-P and Cortes-H (2006). 10. Cortes-Herrera et al. (2007). 11. Cortes-Herrera (2006). 12. J. O. Cortes in litt. (2009). 13. J. Zuluaga in litt. (2009). 14. D. C. Sabogal in litt. (2009). 15. T. Donegan in litt. (2008). 16. P. Salaman in litt. (2008).

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 Phil Benstead (BirdLife International), Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Isabel Isherwood (BirdLife International), Tom Stuart (BirdLife International)

Contributors Giovanni Chaves, Oswaldo Cortes (Grupo Aves de Soata), A. Cuervo, L. Dávalos, Thomas Donegan (University of Cambridge), Alejandro Hernandez-Jaramillo, Jorge Enrique Parra, David Caro Sabogal, Paul G. W Salaman (World Land Trust-US), F. Gary Stiles (Universidad Nacional de Colombia), Thomas Züchner, Johana Zuluaga

IUCN Red List evaluators Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Rob P Clay (BirdLife International), Christian Devenish (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2010) Species factsheet: Amazilia castaneiventris. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2/9/2010

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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