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Macrosphenus pulitzeri

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
ANIMALIA CHORDATA AVES PASSERIFORMES SYLVIIDAE

Scientific Name: Macrosphenus pulitzeri
Species Authority: Boulton, 1931
Common Name/s:
English – Pulitzer's Longbill
French – Fauvette nasique de Pulitzer

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria: Endangered B1ab(i,ii,iii,v);C2a(i) ver 3.1
Year Published: 2012
Assessor/s: BirdLife International
Reviewer/s: Butchart, S. & Taylor, J.
Contributor/s: Cohen, C., Mills, M. & Spottiswoode, C.
Justification:
This poorly known species is currently thought to have a very small, severely fragmented range and a very small population, and is suspected to be in decline owing to habitat loss and degradation; it is therefore listed as Endangered. Recent surveys have found the species to be more numerous and widespread than was previously thought, and its tolerance of secondary growth, thickets and plantations suggest that it is unlikely to have a severely fragmented range. Confirmation of this may lead to its downlisting in the near future.
History:
2008 – Endangered
2004 – Endangered
2000 – Endangered
1996 – Endangered
1994 – Endangered

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description: Macrosphenus pulitzeri is known from the escarpment of western Angola. It is very common in disturbed areas and its range is almost certainly continuous between Kumbira Forest and Chongoroi (M. Mills in litt. 2007, Mills 2010), probably occurring in a number of relict forest patches and thickets on the escarpment. Records from 2003 came from a large forest block which survives near the village of Kumbira and in secondary bush near the town of Seles (C. Cohen, M. Mills and C. Spottiswoode in litt. 2003). It has been found to be common in both the Bango and Gungo areas (M. Mills in litt. 2007, Mills 2010), and is probably more numerous and less threatened than previously feared (Mills 2010).

Countries:
Native:
Angola (Angola)
Range Map: Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population: The population is estimated at 612-6,120 individuals (1-10 individuals/km2 x 612 km2 [45% EOO]), i.e. may fall in band 250-999 mature individuals. This equates to 375-1,499 individuals in total, rounded here to 350-1,500 individuals. No density estimates for congeners, but density range is up to the lower quartile of 42 estimates for 18 Apalis, Camaroptera, Calamonestes and Eremomela spp. in BirdLife Population Density Spreadsheet. According to Mills (2010) it occurs over a length of c.370 km of scarp c.10 km wide, giving it a range size of c. 3700 km2, and it can be common in secondary growth. Mills (2010) therefore concluded that the population is almost certainly greater than 1,000 individuals.
Population Trend: Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology: It is found in dry evergreen forest, secondary growth, dry thickets and abandoned coffee plantations at 800-1,030 m (M. Mills in litt. 2007, Mills 2010). It feeds low down, almost to ground-level, on insects.

Systems: Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s): From the 1930s until the 1970s, an estimated 95% of forest on the escarpment was under coffee production (which leaves the canopy mostly intact) (Dean 2000). This has now been largely abandoned and subsistence agriculture is a threat (Dean 2000). At one locality in particular, Chongoroi, frequent fires from uncontrolled slash-and-burn agriculture threaten the species (Dean 2000).

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions: Conservation Actions Underway
A protected area of c.20 km2 at Chongoroi was recommended in the early 1970s, but has not yet been established (Dean 2000).

Conservation Actions Proposed
Conduct surveys to determine its status. Designate a protected area at Chongoroi.

Bibliography [top]

Collar, N. J.; Stuart, S. N. 1985. Threatened birds of Africa and related islands: the ICBP/IUCN Red Data Book. International Council for Bird Preservation, and International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Cambridge, U.K.

Dean, W. R. J. 2000. The birds of Angola. British Ornithologists' Union, Tring, UK.

IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2012.1). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 19 June 2012).

Mills, M. S. L. 2010. Angola's central scarp forests: patterns of bird diversity and conservation threats. Biodiversity and Conservation 19(7): 1883-1903.
Citation: BirdLife International 2012. Macrosphenus pulitzeri. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 26 May 2013.
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