Species

Justification
This species has a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

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.

Taxonomic note
Laniisoma elegans (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) was split into L elegans and L. buckleyi following Collar et al. (1992), but this treatment is no longer adopted by the BirdLife Taxonomic Working Group because buckleyi does not differ mensurally from the nominate, and perhaps only differs in plumage by the lesser amount of scaling on the male and in the female lacking a black cap.

Identification
17.5 cm. Striking, green-and-yellow cotinga. Male has black crown. Olive-green upperparts. Bright yellow below, variably scaled black across chest, down flanks to crissum. Female has scaled underparts and olive crown. Immature as female with large rufous spots on tips of wing-coverts. Similar spp. Sharpbill Oxyruncus cristatus is much more spotted below. Voice High-pitched series of metallic ptiiíí calls.

Distribution and population
This species occurs on the lower eastern slope of the Andes in extreme western Venezuela (south-west Barinas and south-east Táchira), east Colombia (north Boyacá and apparently west Meta), east Ecuador, east Peru (Amazonas to Pasco, probably also further south), and west Bolivia (La Paz)5,6. Subspecies L. e. elegans is endemic to south-east Brazil, where it is known from Bahia2, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais1,4, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná and Santa Catarina11 and is likely to occur all along the forested belt of the Serra do Mar from southern Rio de Janeiro to Santa Catarina. Widespread destruction of forest within its altitudinal limits is being caused by peasant farmers and tea and coffee growers all along the east slope of the Andes10. Many of the foothill forests of the northern portion of the Andes are under intense threat from conversion to agriculture and cattle pasture, mining operations and logging, the effects of which are intensified by road building and human colonisation9. In La Paz, Bolivia, large areas of its foothill forests have already been deforested by colonists from the altiplano for subsistence agriculture and the cultivation of cash crops such as coca and coffee10. In Brazil, extensive and ongoing deforestation is evident, which led subspecies L. e. elegans to be classified as Near Threatened when it was recognised as a separate species. However, much of the species's habitat in central Peru remains relatively intact, especially above 900 m10, and it occurs in a number of protected areas. The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population size criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. less than 10,000 mature individuals in conjunction with appropriate decline rates and subpopulation qualifiers). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as 'rare' (Stotz et al. 1996).

Trend justification
The population is suspected to be in decline, especially in south-eastern Brazil, as a result of ongoing habitat fragmentation and destruction (del Hoyo et al. 2004).

Ecology
The species inhabits montane and lowland evergreen forest at elevations of 400-1,800 m (Ridgely and Tudor 1994, Stotz et al. 1996), but as low as 200 m in Venezuela (Meyer de Schauensee and Phelps 1978) and below 100 m on Ilha do Cardosa (Brazil). It is unknown why it does not extend much more widely into the lowlands, but its narrow range at the base of the East Andes may be related to a seasonal migration to higher altitudes, perhaps to breed (Snow 1982). In the Andes, breeding is thought to begin in late August to early September (Snow 1982), whereas in Brazil gonad data suggests breeding occurs in the austral spring and summer, though birds have also been recorded in moult at this time of the year. It frequents both canopy and understorey, at times associating with mixed-species flocks. The diet is reported to be mainly small insects, supplemented by pulpy fruit in season (Snow 1982).

Threats
Widespread destruction of forest within its altitudinal limits is being caused by peasant farmers and tea and coffee growers all along the east slope of the Andes (Collar et al. 1992). Many of the foothill forests of the northern portion of the Andes are under intense threat from conversion to agriculture and cattle pasture, mining operations and logging, the effects of which are intensified by road building and human colonisation (Dinerstein et al. 1995). In La Paz, Bolivia, large areas of its foothill forests have already been deforested by colonists from the altiplano for subsistence agriculture and the cultivation of cash crops such as coca and coffee (Collar et al. 1992). In Brazil, extensive and ongoing deforestation is evident, which led subspecies L. e. elegans to be classified as Near Threatened when it was recognised as a separate species. However, much of the species's habitat in central Peru remains relatively intact, especially above 900 m (Collar et al. 1992), and it occurs in a number of protected areas.

References
Snow, D. 1982. The cotingas: bellbirds, umbrellabirds and their allies. British Museum (Natural History) and Oxford University Press, London and Oxford.

Meyer de Schauensee, R.; Phelps, W. H. 1978. A guide to the birds of Venezuela. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

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.

Ridgely, R. S.; Tudor, G. 1994. The birds of South America. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas.

Gonzaga, L. P.; Pacheco, J. F.; Bauer, C.; Castiglioni, G. D. A. 1995. An avifaunal survey of the vanishing montane Atlantic forest of southern Bahia, Brazil. Bird Conservation International 5(2/3): 279-290.

Dinerstein, E.; Olson, D. M.; Graham, D. J.; Webster, A. L.; Primm, S. A.; Bookbinder, M. P.; Ledec, G. 1995. A conservation assesssment of the terrestrial ecoregions of Latin America and the Caribbean. World Bank, Washington, D.C.

Stotz, D. F.; Fitzpatrick, J. W.; Parker, T. A.; Moskovits, D. K. 1996. Neotropical birds: ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Machado, A. B. M.; da Fonseca, G. A. B.; Machado, R. B.; Aguiar, L. M. De S.; Lins, L. V. 1998. Livro Vermelho: das espécies ameaçadas de extinça1o da fauna de Minas Gerais. Fundaça1o Biodiversitas, Belo Horizonte.

Anciães, M.; Coelho, M. M.; Chaves-Cordeiro, P. H. 2001. Records for the Elegant Mourner (Laniisoma elegans) in forest fragments of Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Melopsittacus 4(1): 44-46.

Borchardt-Junior, C. A.; Veber, L.M.; Zimmermann, C.E. 2004. Primeiros registros de Laniisoma elegans (Thunberg, 1823) e Catharus ustulatus (Nuttall, 1840) em Santa Catarina. Resumos do XII Congresso Brasileiro de Ornitologia, pp. 173. Universidade Regionale de Blumenau, Blumenau, Brazil.

Further web sources of information
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.

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

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
Butchart, S., Ekstrom, J., Harding, M., Temple, H.

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

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Laniisoma elegans. 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.

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