new species test

NEAR THREATENED. Herpsilochmus pileatus is locally uncommon in caatinga scrub and deciduous woodland in interior north-east Brazil up to 1,000 m. It has been recorded from Barra do Corda in central Maranhão, Serra do Cachimbo in south Pará, Chapada de Araripe and Várzea Formosa in Ceará, and several localities in central and south Bahia and north Minas Gerais. The relatively small number of known localities is combined with general disturbance of its habitat – the extent of agricultural expansion, grazing and burning is testimony to the prevalence of human pressure throughout its range. Pressure has increased since the 1970s: the Brazilian oil company, Petrobrás, has built roads into the caatinga providing access for the settlement of new areas, and government agencies have relocated many families to the region.
This species is an inhabitant of the caatinga, especially mid-humid patches of semideciduous woodland and scrub. It forages predominantly in the middle and upper tree levels, especially where papilionaceous shrubs are present. Individuals of Caatinga Antwren have been known for a long time, but differences were not recognized so they belonged to H. pileatus, the Bahia Antwren. (That species is now considered to be a coastal Bahia endemic. It has atricapillus as closest relative species.) Sellowi has a shorter and narrower bill, pale loral area, short postocular streak, and undertail coverts variably buffy. The female lacks distinct white marks in the crown, but may have buffy feather tips there. Another distinction can be found in the (loud)song: a 2.3 seconds series of notes like that of pileatus, but with twice as many notes, at an even, double pace and slightly higher in pitch. (Systematic revision and biogeography of the Herpsilochmus pileatus complex, with description of a new species from northeastern Brazil The Auk 117, 4 (2000): 869-891)

NEAR THREATENED. Myiopagis olallai is known from four areas along the eastern slopes of the Andes: three sites on the slopes of Volcán Sumaco, Napo; near Zamora; at 1200 m above Bermejo in Sucumbíos province, Ecuador, and in Apurímac in southern Peru. It occurs between 890 and 1,500 m within and at the edge of very humid to wet primary submontane forest. This habitat is being destroyed at an alarming rate in certain places along the eastern slope of the Andes. The true extent of the species’ distribution, and the extent to which habitat loss threatens it, need to be determined.
A new species of New World flycatcher in the genus Myiopagis (Aves, Tyrannidae, Elaeniinae) is described from Andean submontane forest of eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru. It appears to be most closely related to M. caniceps of lower elevations and more distantly to M. gaimardii, with which it is syntopic. (Coopmans P, Krabbe N (2000) A NEW SPECIES OF FLYCATCHER (TYRANNIDAE: MYIOPAGIS) FROM EASTERN ECUADOR AND EASTERN PERU. The Wilson Bulletin: Vol. 112, No. 3 pp. 305-312).

LEAST CONCERN. A bush-warbler of the genus Bradypterus, known from the mountains of Taiwan since 1917, has never been formally named as a distinct taxon. Songs of the Taiwan population differ strikingly from those of its Asian congeners in being much clearer, sweeter, more piercing, and in having a very different structure of elements. Several subtle but consistent morphological differences exist between specimens from Taiwan and all named taxa, principally in bill size and shape, plumage color and reduced variability, pattern of undertail coverts, and wing formula. Therefore, the Taiwan population is best treated as a new species.
A medium-sized, dark brown bush warbler with short, round wings and a longish, broad, graduated tail. Entire upperparts, including head, olive-brown with a rufous tinge; tail more olive. Indistinct and narrow buffy supercilium. Chin and throat white, streaked with black; the rest of the underparts white, washed gray on sides of neck and olive-brown on sides of breast and belly. Flight feathers and tail marginally darker brown than rest of upperparts. Whitish tips of undertail coverts give scaly appearance. Sexes similar. Iris, brown. Bill, black above, pinkish below. Confined to central mountains at 500 – 3,000 m where it is common in cold-temperate bamboo thickets and temperate coniferous forest edges. Inhabits low scrub, weeds and thick grass in mountain regions. Found mostly singly or in pairs. Mostly ground-dwelling; keeps low in dense scrub. Food is mainly insects. Breeding season is from May to July. Nest usually placed in tall grass. Clutch size: 2 eggs. (Rasmussen, P.C.; Round, P.D.; Dickinson, E.C. & Rozendaal, F.G. (2000) A new bush-warbler (Sylviidae, Bradypterus) from Taiwan The Auk 117: 279-289 ).

VULNERABLE. Capito wallacei is known only from an isolated, unnamed ridge system to the east of the Cordillera Azul, Ucayali Department, Peru. The ridge is on the east bank of the upper Río Cushabatay, 77 km west-north-west of Contamana in Loreto. The ridge is long (>50 km) and narrow and, in spite of searches at suitable elevations in the adjacent Cordillera Azul, this species remains known only from Peak 15382. It was found to be common, with up to eight individuals recorded daily. Thirteen specimens were collected from this mountain.

19 cm. Very striking, recently discovered barbet. Cap and nape scarlet. Broad white supercilium starting from just in front of eye. Black lores, area below eye and ear-coverts. Scapulars mostly black (yellow “V” in female). Back yellow, large white rump and black tail. Throat and upper breast white, bordered below by a broad scarlet band. Lower breast and belly bright yellow, fading to yellowish-white in undertail coverts. The species is known only from on, or near, the summit of one mountain, where a relatively flat plateau is cloaked in cloud forest between 1,200 and 1,540 m. Epiphytes, especially bryopytes, bromeliads and orchids, cover most of the trunks and large branches of the short trees (10-20 m). The predominant trees near the summit are melastomes and clusias. The forest floor has a deep (up to 1 m) spongy cover of mosses intermixed with leaf litter and soil. The wet, epiphyte-covered montane forest changes abruptly to taller and drier subtropical forest below 1,250 m. There is little human habitation in the watershed, and none above 300 m. Only a small amount of hunting is conducted by infrequent visitors. However, deforestation is extensive on the west slope of the adjacent Cordillera Azul, especially in the drainage of the Río Biabo. (O’Neill, J.P., D.F. Lane, A. W. Kratter, A.P. Capparella, and C.F. Joo. 2000. A striking new species of barbet (Capitoninae: Capito) from the eastern Andes of Peru. Auk 117: 569-577. )