Species

Justification
This species has a moderately small and severely fragmented range within which is the population is suspected to be declining owing to habitat loss (del Hoyo et al. 1999). It is consequently classified as Near Threatened.

Taxonomic source(s)
SACC. 2006. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.html.
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.

Distribution and population
Thalurania watertonii is confined to eastern Pará (probably erroneous), Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and northern Bahia, north-eastern Brazil (Pacheco and Whitney 1995) where it is common but presumably declining due to habitat loss.

Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as common throughout its range (del Hoyo et al. 1999).

Ecology
It is restricted to lowland habitats such as coastal rainforest, cerrado, plantations and parks throughout its Atlantic forest range. It forages in the understorey and middle strata, usually on the periphery of vegetation on nectar and occasional invertebrates. Males defend territories against conspecific intruders and other hummingbirds. Breeding occurs between November and February.

Threats
Widespread and continuing disappearance of lowland forest in north-eastern Brazil is likely to be causing declines, the Atlantic forests north of the Sao Francisco river having been drastically reduced, with less than 4% remaining by 1995. It seems able to accept man-made habitats as long as patches of forest or stands of scattered trees remain.

Conservation actions underway
CITES Appendix II. It occurs in Monte Pascoal National Park and Pedra Talhada State Park.

Conservation actions proposed
Effectively protect and manage protected areas where the species occurs. Study its ecology and its ability to persist in degraded and fragmented habitats. Attempt to obtain an accurate estimate of its population size and trends.

References
Pacheco, J. F.; Whitney, B. M. 1995. Range extensions for some birds in northeastern Brazil. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 115: 157-163.

del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. 1999. Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 5: Barn-owls to Hummingbirds. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.

Further web sources of information
Hear sounds for this species from xeno-canto, the community database of shared bird sounds from around the world.

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

Text account compilers
Benstead, P., Harding, M., Sharpe, C J, Symes, A., Williams, R.

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

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Thalurania watertonii. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 18/06/2013. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2013) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 18/06/2013.

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.