Research Article |
Corresponding author: Raul F. Gil-Ospina ( rafergil@gmail.com ) Academic editor: Ana Maria Leal-Zanchet
© 2020 Raul F. Gil-Ospina, Daniel Moreno-López.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Gil-Ospina RF, Moreno-López D (2020) New records of Clytoctantes alixii (Elliot, 1870) in Eastern Caldas, Colombia. Neotropical Biology and Conservation 15(3): 201-207. https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.15.e50325
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Clytoctantes alixii is a bird that lives on the edges of old-growth, secondary and cleared forests undergoing regeneration and presents a distribution restricted to Colombia and Venezuela. The species is considered to be at risk of extinction (EN) due to its particular characteristics and restricted distribution. However, knowledge of its ecology and distribution is still incipient. The objective of this study was therefore to expand the knowledge of C. alixii in Caldas, present the southernmost record of the species and describe its behaviour. The species was monitored within the protected areas of the Manso Diversion in the period 2014 and 2017, using mist nets and fixed radius point counts. Two individuals of C. alixii were recorded, both by observation, with one of these subsequently also captured in a forest in an advanced state of succession. Recording of this population is important because it is the southernmost in the Cordillera Central and confirms that habitats with the presence of hollow stem plants largely define the presence of the species, as well as potentially determining the location of other populations of this species within its range of distribution.
extinction risk, conservation, Cordillera Central, protection, southernmost record
Clytoctantes alixii (Elliot, 1870), the recurve-billed bushbird, is a near-endemic resident bird species with a distribution restricted to northern Colombia and the adjacent zone of Venezuela and within an elevation range of 180 to 1600 m a.s.l. It belongs to the group of antbirds (
The natural history of this species is little known, although it is unmistakable throughout its range of distribution due to its large, curved and compressed bill (
The species has been categorised both nationally and internationally as being in danger of extinction (EN) (
The study area is located on the eastern flank of the Central Cordillera of Colombia, between the Municipalities of Norcasia and Samaná (5°36'N, 74°57'W; Figure
For recording the species between 2014 and 2017, two widely-used techniques were used for bird sampling: mist netting and fixed radius point counts (
During the four years of sampling, two individuals were recorded, both by direct observation while performing foraging activities in the count points, with one of these subsequently also captured (5°36'28.0"N, 74°57'14.3"W, 744 m a.s.l.), from a total sampling effort of 4874 h/net for the mist nets and 5040 minutes for the fixed radius point counts. The first record was made on 20 May 2014 when a male was found with either a female or an immature individual on the edge of a stream in search of insects on a plant of the genus Costus (Costaceae). The male made a cut from the base to the mid part of the plant as part of its foraging activity (Figure
The second record was made on 17 January 2016 when an adult female was captured in a mist net. This individual had an egg in its oviduct and presented no moulting on the body or wings (Figure
The records reported here are the first made of the recurve-billed bushbird in Caldas since 1951 (
Our findings suggest that, contrary to previous reports (
For individuals of this species, there seems to be a relationship with plants with hollow stems, perhaps where arthropods accumulate or where the soft bark is easy to open with their beaks. Furthermore, the stems on which they feed are generally dead, as living stems do not harbour as many arthropofauna as those that are in a state of decomposition or are simply easier to open (
The low rate of records over the four-year sampling period illustrates the rarity of this species and also demonstrates that the site in which they were recorded fulfils the basic requirements for subsistence of the species, in contrast to the situation in the other two sampling zones. This may be since it is a rare and local bird with specific habitat and dietary requirements, which makes it more susceptible to threat through habitat loss (
The discovery of this population allows recognition of C. alixii as a priority species for conservation and research in Caldas, Colombia. This is the second population in the Cordillera Central and the southernmost record of the species following its re-discovery, which makes the area of considerable importance for conservation of the species. In addition, the relationship of the species with hollow stem plants is emphasised, even in environments where it has not previously been reported, which furthers our understanding of the factors that affect the presence of the species within its range of distribution and allows us to conclude that the risk faced by C. alixii is, in fact, lower than previously thought. Finally, increasing knowledge of the species is of vital importance since, at present, there is an important gap in the information regarding its ecology, distribution and natural history.
This research was conducted under the framework of the monitoring of avifauna impacted by the diversion of the River Manso. We thank the University of Caldas and ISAGEN for funding the project of monitoring the wild vertebrate fauna in zones of influence of the productive centres of ISAGEN in eastern Caldas (Convention No 47/623). We also thank all of the working team of this project.