Justification This species is listed as Vulnerable because it is presumed to have a small population, which is believed to be declining owing to increased logging resulting from a rapidly increasing human population.

Family/Sub-family Pipridae

Species name author Sick, 1959

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

Synonyms Pipra vilasboasi Stotz et al. (1996), Pipra vilasboasi Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993), Pipra vilasboasi BirdLife International (2005), Pipra vilasboasi BirdLife International (2004), Pipra vilasboasi BirdLife International (2000), Pipra vilasboasi Collar et al. (1994), Pipra vilasboasi Collar and Andrew (1988)

Identification 8.5 cm. Small, green-and-yellow manakin. Male predominantly bright grass-green, with yellow belly and undertail-coverts, white rump and uppertail-coverts, whitish iris, and glittering golden crown and nape. Pale pinkish legs and pale bluish bill. Female similar but crown has slight bluish tinge and rump area is green. Similar spp. Male separable from similar Snow-capped Manakin P. nattereri by crown and nape colour but female is probably indistinguishable in field except on range. Voice Male call apparently similar to closely related species, a burry prreee sometimes given in series.

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

2,500-9,999

decreasing

160 km²

Yes

Range & population Lepidothrix vilasboasi was known until recently only from the type-locality at the headwaters of the rio Cururu, a right-bank tributary of the rio Tapajós, in the Serra do Cachimbo, south-west Pará, Brazil, where five specimens were taken in 1957. In 2002, a male was observed and mist-netted on the west bank of the rio Jamanxim, near Novo Progresso, c.200 km north-east of the type-locality³, but this site has now been logged⁵. In 2006, two exploded leks were found in selectively logged forest 20 km from the 2002 site, and it has now also been found at two further localities on the far side of the rio Jamanxim⁵. It has been suggested that the species ranges between the rios Tapajós and Jamanxim, and that the southern limit of its range lies along the north edge of the Serra do Cachimbo³, but surveys in the Serra do Cachimbo have so far only found Snow-capped Manakin L. nattereri⁴. There is no evidence to suggest that it occurs sympatrically with Opal-crowned Manakin L. iris or L. nattereri^1,3.

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

Ecology: The type-series was collected in primary terra firme forest. The first specimen was seen and collected 6 m up in a thin sapling at the edge of a stream in dense, tall forest. Stomach contents of the specimens contained fruit and insects. The male in 2002 was captured in terra firme forest adjoining a dirt road³, and the lekking birds in 2006 were in forest which had been selectively logged around five years previously⁵. It may be able to survive in small fragments of habitat as the closely related L. nattereri occurs in well-preserved forest fragments as small as 50 ha.

Threats The extent of deforestation in the vicinity of the type-locality remains unknown, but the region is being developed for cattle-ranching². Forest at the 2002 locality has already been destroyed and clearance is increasing rapidly in response to the increasing demand for cattle pasture from colonists³, with the Novo Progresso area currently experiencing one of the highest rates of deforestation in the Amazon⁴. Current plans to pave the BR 163 Cuiabá-Santarém road will bring even greater habitat destruction, opening up soya markets in the Mato Grosso for rapid transfer to Santarém, unless strong government action is taken^3,5. Part of the theoretical range is included in Jamanxim National Forest, which is supposed to be logged in a sustainable way, but unsustainable clearance is also occurring here⁴.

Conservation measures underway The type-locality is within an area of 400,000 ha at Serra do Cachimbo, belonging to the Brazilian air force, which is one of the best-conserved areas in southern Pará³.

Conservation measures proposed Survey to establish the species's status, especially within the Mundurucânia Forest Reserve. Clarify the extent of forest destruction at, and near, the type-locality. Improve the management of Jamanxim National Forest. Increase the extent of habitat protection.

References Collar et al. (1992). 1. M. Cohn-Haft in litt. (1999). 2. Ridgely and Tudor (1994). 3. Olmos and Pacheco (2003). 4. F. Olmos in litt. (2007). 5. A. Lees 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 Phil Benstead (BirdLife International), David Capper (BirdLife International), John Pilgrim (BirdLife International), Rob Pople (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International)

Contributors Mario Cohn-Haft (National Institute for Amazonian Research), Alex Lees (University of East Anglia), Fabio Olmos

IUCN Red List evaluators Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Lepidothrix vilasboasi. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 9/2/2010

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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