Justification This species has not been recorded since the type specimen was collected in 1823, and it may have gone extinct as a result of habitat loss and/or other threatening processes. However, it cannot yet be presumed to be Extinct because the region of the type-locality has been poorly surveyed, and habitat destruction has not been severe. This suggests that, if the species is not nomadic or migratory, it may well still be extant. Any remaining population is likely to be tiny, and for these reasons it is treated as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct).

Family/Sub-family Emberizidae

Species name author (Pelzeln, 1870)

Taxonomic source(s) Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)

Taxonomic note Sporophila melanops (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) is not listed by SACC (2006); presumably because of its possibly extinct status.

Identification 11 cm. Oddly-patterned seedeater. Male has black hood and throat contrasting with olive upperparts. Rest of underparts dingy buff. Female unknown. Similar spp. Yellow-bellied Seedeater S. nigricollis has pale yellow underparts and black extends on to upper breast. Voice Undescribed.

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

<50

unknown

-

Yes

Range & population Sporophila melanops is known from one adult male collected in October 1823. The specimen was taken at a lake 15 km north of Registro do Araguaia, on the east bank of the rio Araguaia in extreme west-central Goiás, Brazil. Searches along the floodplain of the Araguaia river, most recently in December 2008-January 2009, have not produced any sightings⁴.

Ecology: The type-specimen was obtained from a flock of other finches in presumably open habitat. It was in heavy moult.

Threats None are known. Habitat destruction in the region is unlikely to have been sufficiently extensive to extirpate the species. However, the year-round distribution of the species is unknown and therefore deductions regarding threats are somewhat meaningless.

Conservation measures underway A seven day survey in the Araguaia river floodplain in December 2008-2009 failed to find the species⁴.

Conservation measures proposed Search Sporophila spp. flocks in Goiás and adjacent Mato Grosso, including the Pantanal do Rio das Mortes, Mato Grosso, areas along Ilha do Bananal, Tocantins, and perhaps northern Paraguay and eastern Bolivia. Carry out further wide-ranging surveys of the Araguaia Valley at different seasons to fully discount the possibility that S. melanops is either still extant or a valid taxon. Re-examine the type-specimen to fully establish the diagnostic characters and determine its moult stage, and examine specimens of nigricollis to determine whether any show some or all of the characters associated with melanops⁴.

References Collar et al. (1992). 1. Hellmayr (1938). 2. Ridgely and Tudor (1989). 3. Sibley and Monroe (1990). 4. G. M. Kirwan in litt. (2009).

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), Andy Symes (BirdLife International)

Contributors G. M. Kirwan

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

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Sporophila melanops. 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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