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closeJustification
This species has declined over the long term and apparently continues to do so at a moderately rapid rate. It is therefore considered to be Near Threatened.
Taxonomic source(s)
AOU. 1998. Check-list of North American birds. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.
Cramp, S.; Perrins, C. M. 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
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.
Passerina ciris occurs in two geographically disjunct populations: a western population breeding from northern Mexico to northern Texas, USA, and wintering in south-west Mexico; and an eastern population breeding along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Florida (USA) and wintering in southern Florida and the Caribbean (Lowther et al. 1999). The global population is estimated to be 3.6 million birds (Rich et al. 2003). Populations have declined since the mid-1960s and the species has been extirpated from parts of its range in south-west and east USA and north-east Mexico (Lowther et al. 1999, Sauer et al. 2003, NAS 2004, USFWS 2004). Breeding Bird Survey data from the continental USA (and for five years from north-east Mexico) indicates that the population has declined by 55% over the last 30 years (Iñigo-Elias et al. 2002, Rich et al. 2003), with the steepest declines in the eastern population.
Population justification
Rich et al. (2004).
Trend justification
This species has undergone a small or statistically insignificant decrease over the last 40 years in North America (data from Breeding Bird Survey and/or Christmas Bird Count: Butcher and Niven 2007).
Ecology
The western population breeds in scrub-brush habitat that remains largely intact, and the eastern population inhabits coastal plain agricultural land (Lowther et al. 1999).
Threats
Loss and intensification of habitat through urban development, road building and agricultural intensification, and capture for the cagebird trade are the primary threats (Lowther et al. 1999, Iñigo-Elias et al. 2002, Phillips Lynch 2004), with part of the declines also being attributed to brood-parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbird. Trapping and sale in local markets occurs in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, and overseas to international markets in Europe, South America and Asia (Ramos 1982, Iñigo-Elias 1986, Iñigo-Elias et al. 2002).
Conservation actions underway
The species is monitored, but no other specific actions are known.
Conservation actions proposed
Tightly control any ongoing trade in the species. Develop an appropriate management strategy to reverse population declines. Develop a comprehensive conservation strategy including adaptive harvesting for populations in the Caribbean and Latin America (Iñigo-Elias 2006).
References
Ramos, M. 1982. El comercio y la explotación de las aves vivas en México. Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
Iñigo-Elias, E. E. 1986. Active trade threatens Mexican avifauna. TRAFFIC Bulletin 6(4): 6-7.
Lowther, P. E.; Lanyon, S. M.; Thompson, C. W. 1999. Painted Bunting Passerina ciris. In: Poole, A.; Gill, F. (ed.), The birds of North America, No. 398, pp. 1-24. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia and the American Ornithologists' Union, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.
Iñigo-Elias, E. E.; Rosenberg, K. V.; Wells, J. V. 2002. The danger of beauty. Birdscope 16(3): 1,14-15.
Sauer, J. R.; Hines, J. E.; Fallon, J. 2003. The north American breeding bird survey, results and analysis 1966-2002. version 2003.1.
Rich, T. D.; Beardmore, C. J.; Berlanga, H.; Blancher, P. J.; Bradstreet, M. S. W.; Butcher, G. S.; Demarest, D.; Dunn, E. H., et al. 2003. Partners in flight north American Landbird conservation plan.
Phyllips Lynch, I. 2004. Bird without equal. Wildlife in Carolina 68: 24-29.
Rich, T.D.; Beardmore, C.J.; Berlanga, H.; Blancher, P.J.; Bradstreet, M.S.W.; Butcher, G.S.; Demarest, D.W.; Dunn, E.H.; Hunter, W.C.; Inigo-Elias, E.E.; Martell, A.M.; Panjabi, A.O.; Pashley, D.N.; Rosenberg, K.V.; Rustay, C.M.; Wendt, J.S.; Will, T.C. 2004. Partners in flight: North American landbird conservation plan. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2004. North Carolina endangered species home page.
Iñigo-Elias, E. E. 2006. Live bird trade with neartic-neotropical migratory passerines in Latin America and the Caribbean. Wings without borders: IV North American Ornithological Conference, October 3-7, 2006, Veracruz, Mexico, pp. 156. American Ornithologists' Union, Waco, TX, USA.
NAS. 2004. Audobon WatchList species, painted bunting Passerina ciris. Audobon WatchList: http://audubon2.org/watchlist/viewSpecies.jsp?id=156#.
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
Bird, J., Harding, M., Sharpe, C J, Stattersfield, A.
Contributors
Butcher, G., Pashley, D., Rosenberg, K., Wells, J.
IUCN Red List evaluators
Butchart, S., Symes, A.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Passerina ciris. 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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| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Current IUCN Red List category | Near Threatened |
| Family | Emberizidae (Buntings, American sparrows and allies) |
| Species name author | (Linnaeus, 1758) |
| Population size | mature individuals |
| Population trend | Decreasing |
| Distribution size (breeding/resident) | 1,210,000 km2 |
| Country endemic? | No |
| Links to further information | |
| - Additional Information on this species | |
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