Species

Justification
Based on a model of future deforestation in the Amazon basin it is suspected that the population of this species will decline rapidly over the next three generations, and it has therefore been uplisted to Vulnerable.

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.

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

Identification
9 cm. Small, green-and-yellow manakin. Male predominantly bright grass-green, with yellow belly and undertail-coverts, whitish bill, yellow iris, and whitish crown and nape. Pale pinkish legs and yellow thighs. Female similar but with green crown and nape. Voice The male's call is a rapidly repeated chi-wir.

Distribution and population
This species occurs in two disjunct populations in east Amazonian Brazil: the Belém area of east Pará, east to north-west Maranhão and south to the Rio Xingu area, north-east Mato Grosso; and on the eastern side of the lower Rio Tapajós, west Pará (Ridgely and Tudor 1994).

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

Trend justification
This species is suspected to lose 59.8-68.9% of suitable habitat within its distribution over three generations (12 years) based on a model of Amazonian deforestation (Soares-Filho et al. 2006, Bird et al. 2011). However, given the species appears to have some degree of tolerance to habitat degradation (A. Lees in litt 2011), it is suspected to decline by 30-49% over three generations.

Ecology
The species is found in the lower growth of humid forest and mature secondary woodland, mainly or entirely in "terra firme" forest (with no flooding), below 200 m (Ridgely and Tudor 1994). It appears to show some tolerance of habitat degradation (A. Lees in litt. 2011). A female has been found with a fully-formed egg in her oviduct in August in east Pará, which constitutes the only available data on breeding (del Hoyo et al. 2004).

Threats
The species is threatened by continuing deforestation (Ridgely and Tudor 1994). There have been very high rates of deforestation in Mato Grosso (23.6% of forest cleared by 1988) and Maranhão (19.2%), with large areas also being cleared in Pará (9.6%), due to road building, ranching and land speculation (Cleary 1991). The rate is projected to accelerate in the near future as land is cleared for cattle ranching and soy production, facilitated by expansion of the road network, destroying over 50% of the available habitat within its known range (Soares-Filho et al. 2006, Bird et al. 2011). Proposed changes to the Brazilian Forest Code reduce the percentage of land a private landowner is legally required to maintain as forest (including, critically, a reduction in the width of forest buffers alongside perennial steams) and include an amnesty for landowners who deforested before July 2008 (who would subsequently be absolved of the need to reforest illegally cleared land) (Bird et al. 2011).

Conservation actions underway
None is known.

Conservation actions proposed
Expand the protected area network to effectively protect IBAs. Effectively resource and manage existing and new protected areas, utilising emerging opportunities to finance protected area management with the joint aims of reducing carbon emissions and maximizing biodiversity conservation. Conservation on private lands, through expanding market pressures for sound land management and preventing forest clearance on lands unsuitable for agriculture, is also essential (Soares-Filho et al. 2006). Campaign against proposed changes to the Brazilian Forest Code that would lead to a decrease in the width of the areas of riverine forest protected as Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs), which function as vital corridors in fragmented landscapes.

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

Cleary, D. 1991. The Brazilian rainforest: politics, finance, mining and the environment. Economist Intelligence Unit, London.

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

del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Christie, D. 2004. Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 9: Cotingas to Pipits and Wagtails. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.

Soares-Filho, B.S.; Nepstad, D.C.; Curran, L.M.; Cerqueira, G.C.; Garcia, R. A.; Ramos, C. A.; Voll, E.; McDonald, A.; Lefebvre, P.; Schlesinger, P. 2006. Modelling conservation in the Amazon basin. Nature 440(7083): 520-523.

Bird, J. P.; Buchanan, J. M.; Lees, A. C.; Clay, R. P.; Develey, P. F.; Yépez, I.; Butchart, S. H. M. 2011. Integrating spatially explicit habitat projections into extinction risk assessments: a reassessment of Amazonian avifauna incorporating projected deforestation. Diversity and Distributions: doi: 10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00843.x.

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
Butchart, S., Ekstrom, J., Fisher, S., Harding, M., Khwaja, N., Symes, A.

Contributors
Lees, A.

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

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Lepidothrix iris. 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.

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