Species

Justification
This species is classified as Near Threatened because it is continuing to undergo a moderately rapid population reduction owing to hunting pressure and habitat loss. It is still locally common in certain areas and, with proper protection, would be much more abundant over its wide range.

Taxonomic source(s)
AOU. 1998. Check-list of North American birds. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.
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.

Synonym(s)
Neochen jubatus Collar and Andrew (1988), Neochen jubatus jubatus Collar and Andrew (1988)

Distribution and population
Neochen jubata remains relatively widespread in South America east of the Andes, from east Colombia and Venezuela (where taken together there are probably 5,000-10,000 individuals [T. McNish in litt. 2007]), Ecuador (previously thought to just be a vagrant (Ridgely et al. 1998), but a small population of 20-30 now known from the Rio Pastaza area), Guyana, Suriname (no recent records and may never have been more than a vagrant [K. Kreise in litt. 2004]), south through Amazonian Brazil (where there are thought to be 2,000-4,000 individuals in the Cantão and Bananal Island region alone [R. Pinheiro in litt. 2007]), extreme east Peru (relatively common [Clements in prep.]), Bolivia (perhaps a few thousand pairs [J. Tobias in litt. 2007]) and west Paraguay (two records, in 1990 and 1992 [Hayes 1995]) to extreme north-west Argentina (either very scarce there now or just a vagrant) (Carboneras 1992a),. Clear declines have been noted in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Argentina (Callaghan in prep.), and although the population was once estimated at c.25,000-100,000 individuals (P. Canevari in litt. 1993) it is now more likely to be 10,000-25,000 (K. Kreise in litt. 2004). Its strongholds appear to be the extensive, sparsely inhabited area of lakes, marshland and seasonally flooded savannas in north Beni, Bolivia, where flocks of up to 250 were observed in the early 1980s (Scott and Carbonell 1986, Ridgely et al. 1998), the Isla Bananal, Brazil (C. Yamashita verbally 2000) and the Colombian and Venezuelan llanos. It is becoming increasing localised over much of its range and is now scarce, except in remote or protected areas (Carboneras 1992a).

Population justification
The global population has been estimated to number 10,000-25,000 mature individuals based on the result of discussions on BirdLife's Globally Threatened Birds Forum.

Trend justification
The species is suspected to be declining at a slow to moderate rate, owing primarily to hunting pressure and probably the conversion of suitable habitat for agriculture in parts of its range (C. Sharpe in litt. 2010).

Ecology
It inhabits forest-covered banks of tropical rivers and damp clearings, wet savannas and muddy and sandy margins of large freshwater wetlands, from lowlands to 500 m (Carboneras 1992a), occasionally to 2,600 m (Hilty and Brown 1986).

Threats
The current decline is attributed to heavy and continuing hunting pressure (Carboneras 1992a); although availability of foraging habitat may limit numbers locally, the abundance of the species on certain private reserves where it is well protected indicate that hunting is the primary reason for its decline. In Venezuela, conversion of former private reserves for rice production may threaten previously well-protected populations of the species (C. J. Sharpe in litt. 2010).


Conservation actions underway
It occurs in a number of private and public protected areas.

Conservation actions proposed
Continue to monitor population trends through regular, coordinated surveys. Monitor levels of hunting pressure. Conduct awareness campaigns to discourage hunting and regulate the number of birds taken. Protect significant areas of suitable forest and wetland habitat in a network of public and private reserves.

References
Hilty, S. L.; Brown, W. L. 1986. A guide to the birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

Scott, D. A.; Carbonell, M. 1986. A directory of Neotropical wetlands. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and International Waterfowl Research Bureau, Cambridge and Slimbridge, U.K.

Carboneras, C. 1992. Anatidae (Ducks, Geese, and Swans). In: del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. (ed.), Handbook of the birds of the world, pp. 536-628. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.

Hayes, F. E. 1995. Status, distribution and biogeography of the birds of Paraguay. American Birding Association, Colorado Springs.

Ridgely, R. S.; Greenfield, P. J.; Guerrero, M. 1998. An annotated list of the birds of mainland Ecuador. Fundación Ornitológica del Ecuador, CECIA, Quito.

Clements, J. F. 1998. Report on a birding trip to the southern Andes of Peru.

Wetlands International. 2002. Waterbird population estimates. Wetlands International, Wageningen, Netherlands.

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., Bird, J., Capper, D., Clay, R., Isherwood, I., Mahood, S., Pilgrim, J., Sharpe, C J, Symes, A.

Contributors
Clay, R., Davenport, C, Díaz, D., Di Giácomo, S., Dornas, T., Hennessey, A., Hesse, C., Kriese, K., Lebbin, D., McNish, T., Pinheiro, R., Pracontal, N., Sharpe, C J, Tobias, J., Torres, D.

IUCN Red List evaluators
Butchart, S., Taylor, J.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Neochen jubata. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 24/05/2013. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2013) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 24/05/2013.

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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