Species

Justification
This species qualifies as Vulnerable because although it has a larger range than previously estimated, the range is still small, severely fragmented and likely to be declining owing to rapid habitat loss.

Taxonomic source(s)
SACC. 2006. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.html.
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
Neopelma aurifrons (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into N. aurifrons and N. chrysolophum following SACC (2005).

Identification
 13 cm. Dull greenish bird. Greyish-olive face and throat, grading to olive wash on chest, and pale lemon-yellow belly and vent. Crown and even nape generally slaty, contrasting with dull pale olive of upperparts, but sometimes shows yellow on centre of crown. Dusky wings and tail, fringed paler olive. Pale iris. Similar spp. Serra do Mar Tyrant-manakin N. chrysolophum is longer tailed, shorter billed and shows conspicuous yellow centre of crown. Voice Simple, four-syllable phrase, kiú kí-chru-chrrí, repeated regularly.

Distribution and population
Neopelma aurifrons is found in south-east Brazil, with recent records from the vicinity of Salvador (Chapada da Diamantina National Park in 1990 [B. Forrester in litt. 1990], although not since then [Parrini et al. 1999]) and Camamu, Bahia, south to Espírito Santo (three localities, including the lower Rio Doce), east Minas Gerais (including Divisópolis) and Rio de Janeiro (one locality near Anil just north-east of Rio de Janeiro city). It was recently found in the Rio Doce State Park (following an old specimen at this site), Acauã Ecological Station and a forest fragment adjacent to Acauã, all in Minas Gerais (de Vasconcelos et al. 2004). It is one of the least known Atlantic forest birds, partly as a consequence of being treated as a subspecies until 1995. It was listed as uncommon in Sooretama Biological Reserve during fieldwork in 1981, but there has been only one subsequent sighting, and it is apparently quite local within Augusto Ruschi Biological Reserve (Whitney et al. 1995b). However, recent population and trend estimates suggest that the species is not as rare as previously thought.


Population justification
Population estimate = 2.1-8.0 individuals/km² x 360 km² (20% EOO) = 756-2,880, i.e. probably best placed in the band 1,000-2,499 individuals (density range is lowest to lower quartile of six estimates for three species of Neopelma and Tyranneutes in the BirdLife Population Densities Spreadsheet).

Trend justification
A moderate and on-going population decline is suspected on the basis of habitat destruction and fragmentation.

Ecology
It inhabits the interior of undisturbed and lightly disturbed lowland forest (usually numerous trees greater than 50 cm diameter at breast height nearby), sometimes foraging near forest edges, at elevations below 1,000 m. Singing individuals perch on thin, horizontal branches in relatively open shaded areas in the understorey, usually 3.5-7 m above ground. Its diet is primarily comprised of fruit, but an individual has been seen to take a stick insect (suborder Phasmodea). It may nest beneath banks and under hanging roots, but this has yet to be confirmed (Whitney et al. 1995b).

Threats
It is threatened since its range is within an area that has been severely deforested over a long period of time (Whitney et al. 1995b). Its lowland forests have been historically threatened by agricultural conversion, deforestation for mining and plantation production (Fearnside 1996). Current key threats to these forests are urbanisation, agricultural expansion, dam construction, colonisation and associated road building (Dinerstein et al. 1995, de Vasconcelos in litt. 2007).


Conservation actions underway
It occurs in Sooretama and Augusto Ruschi Biological Reserves in Espírito Santo (Whitney et al. 1995b), Rio Doce State Park and Acauã Ecological Station in Minas Gerais (de Vasconcelos et al. 2004), and Chapada da Diamantina National Park in Bahia (B. Forrester in litt. 1990). However, only the closely related Pale-bellied Tyrant-manakin N. pallescens has been recorded at the latter recently (Whitney et al. 1995b). The Divisópolis population is near to where the 50,000 ha Mata Escura Biological Reserve has been just decreed.

Conservation actions proposed
Survey to identify new localities and provide more recent records from historical localities (Whitney et al. 1995b). Confirm its presence in Chapada da Diamantina. Estimate populations in Sooretama and Augusto Ruschi. Protect the known site in Rio de Janeiro.

References
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.

Whitney, B. M.; Pacheco, J. F.; Parrini, R. 1995. Two species of Neopelma in southeastern Brazil and diversification within the Neopelma/Tyranneutes complex: implications of the subspecies concept for conservation (Passeriformes: Tyrannidae). Ararajuba 3: 43-53.

Fearnside, P. 1996. Brazil. In: Harcourt, C.S.; Sayer, J.A. (ed.), The conservation atlas of tropical forests: the Americas, pp. 229-248. Simon & Schuster, New York and London.

Parrini, R.; Raposo, M. A.; Pacheco, J. F.; Carvalhaes, A. M. P.; Melo, T. A. J.; Fonseca, P. S. M.; Minns, J. C. 1999. Birds of the Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil. Cotinga 11: 86-95.

Vasconcelos, M. F. de; D'Angelo Neto, S.; Maldonado-Coelho, M. 2004. New noteworthy occurrences of the Wied's Tyrant-manakin (Neopelma aurifrons) in Brazil. Ornitologia Neotropical 15: 547-548.

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., Capper, D., Clay, R., Harding, M., Sharpe, C J, Symes, A.

Contributors
de Vasconcelos, M., Forrester, B.

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

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Neopelma aurifrons. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 23/05/2013. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2013) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 23/05/2013.

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.