Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-d5ftd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-11T02:47:13.508Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

New surveys reveal a population stronghold for the Hoary-throated Spinetail Synallaxis kollari and Rio Branco Antbird Cercomacra carbonaria along the Guyana–Brazil border

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2024

Don Melville ,
Leroy Ignacio ,
Neal Millar ,
Vanessa Merritt ,
Roland Kays ,
Samuel Cyril ,
Dereck David ,
Abraham Ignace ,
Angelbert Johnny  and
Frank Johnny
...Show all authors
Don Melville
Affiliation:
South Rupununi Conservation Society, Guyana
Leroy Ignacio
Affiliation:
South Rupununi Conservation Society, Guyana
Neal Millar
Affiliation:
South Rupununi Conservation Society, Guyana
Vanessa Merritt
Affiliation:
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC, USA North Carolina State University at Raleigh, Forestry and Environmental Resources, NC, USA
Roland Kays
Affiliation:
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC, USA North Carolina State University at Raleigh, Forestry and Environmental Resources, NC, USA
Samuel Cyril
Affiliation:
South Rupununi Conservation Society, Guyana
Dereck David
Affiliation:
South Rupununi Conservation Society, Guyana
Abraham Ignace
Affiliation:
South Rupununi Conservation Society, Guyana
Angelbert Johnny
Affiliation:
South Rupununi Conservation Society, Guyana
Frank Johnny
Affiliation:
South Rupununi Conservation Society, Guyana
Flavian Thomas
Affiliation:
South Rupununi Conservation Society, Guyana
Asaph Wilson
Affiliation:
South Rupununi Conservation Society, Guyana
Nate Wilson
Affiliation:
South Rupununi Conservation Society, Guyana
Brian O’Shea*
Affiliation:
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC, USA
*
Corresponding author: Brian O’Shea; Email: brian.oshea@naturalsciences.org
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The hoary-throated spinetail and Rio Branco antbird are two bird species endemic to the Rio Branco drainage of Brazil and Guyana, currently listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Previous assessments of both species’ global populations focused on the Brazilian state of Roraima but did not include most of its border with Guyana, where significant areas of suitable habitat remain along the Ireng (Maú) and Takutu (Tacutu) Rivers. In July and August 2021, we conducted a survey to determine the extent of each species’ geographic range along the two rivers, and to estimate population sizes. We used playback surveys along 219 km of river to ascertain each species’ distribution and intensively sampled three forest blocks to determine densities. Both species were locally abundant on both sides of the international border. Rio Branco antbird occurred over a greater geographic range than hoary-throated spinetail, particularly along the Takutu River, but was confined to a narrower zone along the river edges. Both species appear to have retreated from habitat along the Ireng River that was occupied in the past, possibly due to habitat degradation from increasingly frequent fires. Nevertheless, our minimum estimates of 1147 antbirds and 851 spinetails in the study area represent, respectively, 7.5% and 17.8 % increases over current estimates of global population sizes, and indicate that the Guyana-Brazil border region may become a critical stronghold for both species if effective conservation measures are implemented. We propose establishment of a Key Biodiversity Area encompassing the core of both species’ distributions along the border; extensive follow-up work including stakeholder engagement to explore possibilities for habitat management and protection; and further field study to increase general ecological knowledge of these two bird species.

Keywords

conservationgallery forestThamnophilidaeFurnariidaeGuiana Shield

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Bird Conservation International , Volume 34 , 2024 , e26
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of BirdLife International

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Barbosa, R.I., Costa e Souza, J.M. and Xaud, H.A.M. (2005). Savanas de Roraima: referencial geográfico e histórico. In Barbosa, R.I., Xaud, H.A.M. and Costa e Souza, J.M. (eds), Savanas de Roraima: etnoecologia, biodiversidade e potenciais agrossilvipastoris [Savannas of Roraima: Ethnoecology, Biodiversity and Agroforestry Potential]. Boa Vista: FEMACT-RR, pp. 11–19.Google Scholar
Bird, J.P., Buchanan, J.M., Lees, A.C., Clay, R.P., Develey, P.F., Yépez, I. et al. (2012). Integrating spatially explicit habitat projections into extinction risk assessments: a reassessment of Amazonian avifauna incorporating projected deforestation. Diversity and Distributions 18, 273–281. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00843.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Filizola, N., Marinho, R., Borges, S., Estupiñán, G.M.B., Naka, L.N., Laranjeiras, T.O. et al. (2020). Estudos alertam para desastre ambiental associado à construção da barragem de Bem Querer no Rio Branco, Roraima. JC Notícias 6485, 9 September 2020.Google Scholar
Hansen, M.C., Potapov, P.V., Moore, R., Hancher, M., Turubanova, S.A., Tyukavina, A. et al. (2013). High-resolution global maps of 21st-century forest cover change. Science 342, 850–853.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hayes, W.M., Voigt, M., Rosa, I., Cort, K.A., Kotlinski, N., Kalamandeen, M. et al. (2023). Predicting the loss of forest, carbon stocks and biodiversity driven by a neotropical ‘gold rush’. Biological Conservation 286, 110312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110312CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (2016). A Global Standard for the Identification of Key Biodiversity Areas. Version 1.0. Gland: IUCN.Google Scholar
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (2022). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2022-2. Gland: IUCN. Available at https://www.iucnredlist.org.Google Scholar
Johnson, R.R., Brown, B.T., Haight, L.T. and Simpson, J.M. (1981). Playback recordings as a special avian censusing technique. Studies in Avian Biology 6, 68–75.Google Scholar
Myers, J.G. (1936). Savannah and forest vegetation of the interior Guiana plateau. Journal of Ecology 24, 162–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naka, L.N., Cohn-Haft, M., Mallet-Rodrigues, F., Santos, M.P.D. and de Fátima Torres, M. (2006). The avifauna of the Brazilian state of Roraima: bird distribution and biogeography in the Rio Branco basin. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 14, 197–238.Google Scholar
Naka, L.N., Laranjeiras, T.O., Lima, G.R., Plaskievicz, A.C., Mariz, D., Da Costa, B.M. et al. (2019). The Avifauna of the Rio Branco, an Amazonian evolutionary and ecological hotspot in peril. Bird Conservation International 30, 21–39. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270919000133CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Shea, B.J., Milensky, C.M., Claramunt, S., Schmidt, B.K., Gebhard, C.A., Schmitt, C.G. et al. (2007). New records for Guyana, with description of the voice of Roraiman Nightjar (Caprimulgus whitelyi). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 127, 118–128.Google Scholar
Robbins, M.B., Braun, M.J. and Finch, D.W. (2004). Avifauna of the Guyana southern Rupununi, with comparisons to other savannas of northern South America. Ornitologia Neotropical 15, 173–200.Google Scholar
Santos, M.P.D. (2003). Novos registros do chororó-do-Rio-Branco (Cercomacra carbonaria) no estado de Roraima, Brasil. Atualidades Ornitológicas 114, 3.Google Scholar
Soares-Filho, B.S., Nepstad, D.C., Curran, L.M., Cerqueira, G.C., Garcia, R.A., Ramos, C.A. et al. (2006). Modelling conservation in the Amazon basin. Nature 440, 520–523.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vale, M.M. (2020). Hoary-throated Spinetail (Synallaxis kollari), version 1.0. In Schulenberg, T.S. (ed.), Birds of the World. Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.hotspi1.01Google Scholar
Vale, M.M., Bell, J.B., Alves, M.A.S. and Pimm, S.L. (2007). Abundance, distribution and conservation of Rio Branco Antbird Cercomacra carbonaria and Hoary-throated Spinetail Synallaxis kollari. Bird Conservation International 17, 245–257.10.1017/S0959270907000743CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimmer, K.J., Isler, M.L. and Sharpe, C.J. (2020). Rio Branco Antbird, version 1.0. In del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A., Sargental, J., Christie, D.A. and de Juana, E. (eds), Birds of the World. Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ribant1.01Google Scholar
Zimmer, K.J., Whittaker, A. and Stotz, D.F. (1997). Vocalization, behavior and distribution of the Rio Branco Antbird. The Wilson Bulletin 109, 663–678.Google Scholar