Species

Justification
This montane species is thought to have a moderately small and fragmented population, that is likely to be declining owing to ongoing habitat loss and degradation. It is therefore considered to be 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
Asthenes urubambensis occurs locally, and probably discontinuously, on the east slope of the Andes. The race huallagae occurs in San Martín, La Libertad, Huánuco and Pasco, north and central Peru, with the nominate race in Cuzco and Puno, south Peru, and La Paz and Cochabamba, west Bolivia (Ridgely and Tudor 1994).

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

Trend justification
A moderate population decline is suspected to be occurring, owing to habitat loss and alteration within the range.

Ecology
This species is rare to uncommon in páramo grassland, Polylepis woodland, elfin forest and mossy slopes with scrub at 2,750-4,300 m (Ridgely and Tudor 1994, Parker et al. 1996).

Threats
Although some montane habitats in Peru are still relatively pristine (Fieldjså and Krabbe 1990), in Bolivia native habitats have been extensively degraded by livestock grazing, burning and firewood collection (Dinerstein et al. 1995). Heavy grazing by livestock and the uncontrolled use of fire also combine to prevent Polylepis regeneration, especially where cutting for timber, firewood and charcoal occurs (Fjeldså and Kessler 1996).

Conservation actions underway
A population exists in the well-protected Carrasco National Park, Bolivia (S. K. Herzog in litt. 1999).

Conservation actions proposed
Conduct surveys of suitable habitats within and surrounding the known range to determine its true distribution and abundance. Campaign for the protection of high-altitude native habitats within the range.

References
Fjeldså, J.; Krabbe, N. 1990. Birds of the high Andes. Apollo Books, Copenhagen.

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

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.

Parker, T. A.; Stotz, D. F.; Fitzpatrick, J. W. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases. In: Stotz, D.F.; Fitzpatrick, J.W.; Parker, T.A.; Moskovits, D.K. (ed.), Neotropical bird ecology and conservation, pp. 113-436. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Fjeldså, J.; Kessler, M. 1996. Conserving the biological diversity of Polylepis woodlands of the highland of Peru and Bolivia. NORDECO, Copenhagen.

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., Gilroy, J., Sharpe, C J

Contributors
Herzog, S.

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

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Asthenes urubambensis. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 20/06/2013. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2013) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 20/06/2013.

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.

Additional resources for this species