Species

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Justification
This species is only known from along one road and apparently occupies an extremely small range. Combined with habitat destruction and degradation, this qualifies the species as Critically Endangered. However, surveys may find the species to be more widespread, resulting in a downlisting to Endangered.

Taxonomic source(s)
AOU. 1998. Check-list of North American birds. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.
Sibley, C. G.; Monroe, B. L. 1990. Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. Yale University Press, New Haven, USA.
Stotz, D. F.; Fitzpatrick, J. W.; Parker, T. A.; Moskovits, D. K. 1996. Neotropical birds: ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Taxonomic note
Gender agreement of species name follows David and Gosselin (2002b).

Synonym(s)
Lophornis brachylopha Collar et al. (1994), Lophornis brachylopha BirdLife International (2000), Lophornis brachylopha BirdLife International (2004), Lophornis brachylopha Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993), Lophornis brachylopha Stotz et al. (1996), Lophornis brachylopha

Identification
7 cm. Tiny, well-marked hummingbird. Male has bronze-green upperparts with rufous crown and crest. White band on upper rump and bronze-purple lower rump. Green central rectrices, others cinnamon-rufous tipped black. Glistening green throat. Short, orange cheek-tufts tipped green. Whitish band below throat and rest of underparts pale cinnamon. Female lacks crest (crown orange) and cheek patch. Buffy band on rump and duller lower rump. Throat whitish. Rest of underparts pale cinnamon. Black subterminal bar on tail and buff tips to outer rectrices. Similar spp. Bumblebee Hummingbird Atthis heloisa and Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird Tilmatura dupontii are similar-sized, but both have green crown and lack rump-band in all plumages. Voice Generally silent. Sometimes sharp chips.

Distribution and population
Lophornis brachylophus is only known from a 25 km stretch of the Atoyac-Paraíso-Puerto del Gallo road in the Sierra de Atoyac (north-west of Acapulco), and is likely to be confined to the Sierra Madre del Sur in Guerrero, Mexico. All records have been near the villages of Arroyo Grande, Paraíso and Nueva Delhi in the months of January-July (S. Hansson in litt. 2010). At least seasonally, it can be locally fairly common to uncommon (Howell and Webb 1995a).

Population justification
The population is estimated to number 250-999 mature individuals based on an assessment of known records, descriptions of abundance and range size. This is consistent with recorded population density estimates for congeners or close relatives with a similar body size, and the fact that only a proportion of the estimated Extent of Occurrence is likely to be occupied. This estimate is equivalent to 375-1,499 individuals in total, rounded here to 350-1,500 individuals.

Trend justification
During the 1990s, semi-deciduous forest in the species's range was rapidly cleared. However, illegal cultivation for the drug trade has rendered an assessment of habitat quality problematic recently. While new data are lacking, the species is suspected to be continuing to decline at a rate of 10-19% over ten years, owing to forest clearance.

Ecology
It inhabits humid to semi-humid evergreen and semi-deciduous forest, forest edge and shade coffee plantations at elevations of 900-1,800 m, where it feeds on the flowers of Inga and Cecropia (Howell and Webb 1995a). There are local reports to 650 m suggesting that it may migrate altitudinally, breeding at higher elevations (possibly November-February), and spending March-August (possibly longer) at lower altitudes (Howell and Webb 1995a).

Threats
In the early 1990s, semi-deciduous forest between Paraíso and Nueva Delhi was being rapidly cleared for the cultivation of maize, fruit and coffee. Much of the remaining forest provides cover for illegal drug-growing making an evaluation of habitat quality difficult (S. N. G. Howell in litt. 1998).

Conservation actions underway
CITES Appendix II, but no other measures are known.

Conservation actions proposed
Designate a protected area in the Sierra de Atoyac (Hernández-Baños et al. 1995) incorporating the range of this species. Survey to clarify the full extent of this species's distribution. Survey to assess the impact of shade coffee plantations on this species and understand its altitudinal movements.

References
Collar, N. J.; Gonzaga, L. P.; Krabbe, N.; Madroño Nieto, A.; Naranjo, L. G.; Parker, T. A.; Wege, D. C. 1992. Threatened birds of the Americas: the ICBP/IUCN Red Data Book. International Council for Bird Preservation, Cambridge, U.K.

Howell, S. N. G.; Webb, S. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Hernández-Baños, B. E.; Peterson, A. T.; Navarro-Sigüenza, A. G.; Escalante-Pliego, B. P. 1995. Bird faunas of the humid montane forests of Mesoamerica: biogeographic patterns and priorities for conservation. Bird Conservation International 5: 251-278.

Further web sources of information
Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) species/site profile. This species has been identified as an AZE trigger due to its IUCN Red List status and limited range.

Click here for more information about the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE)

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 taxonomoa y la categora de la Lista Roja de la UICN pudo haber cambiado desde esta publicacin.

View photos and videos, and hear sounds of this species from the Internet Bird Collection

Text account compilers
Benstead, P., Bird, J., Butchart, S., Capper, D., Isherwood, I., Sharpe, C J, Symes, A., Taylor, J.

Contributors
Hansson, S., Howell, S.

IUCN Red List evaluators
Butchart, S., Symes, A.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Lophornis brachylophus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 22/05/2013. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2013) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 22/05/2013.

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.

To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife

To contribute to discussions on the evaluation of the IUCN Red List status of Globally Threatened Birds, please visit BirdLife's Globally Threatened Bird Forums.

Additional resources for this species

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