Cone-billed Tanager Conothraupis mesoleuca Scientific name definitions

Listed as Critically Endangered by BirdLife International, the Cone-billed Tanager was only recently rediscovered in central Brazil, following more than half a century in total obscurity. Males are mostly black, with a white lower breast and belly, and a small, white wing speculum, while the bill is all white, relatively stout and pointed. Females are olive-brown above, with a paler olive-brown breast, whitish-buffy lower breast and belly, and a darker bill. Eventually, in the early 2000s, the Cone-billed Tanager was seen again in gallery forest within cerrado at Emas National Park, in the state Goiás, and subsequently a larger population was found along the upper Rio Juruena, in Mato Grosso, which it transpired lies close to the type locality. It can be expected that, in the future, additional populations will be located in new areas, given increasing ornithological fieldwork across central Brazil. With better knowledge of the species, its behavior and vocalizations, further challenges have arisen, to correctly establish the species’ relationships. For example, the species has been generally assigned to the genus Conothraupis, with the Black-and-white Tanager (Conothraupis speculigera), but at least one authority has recently returned the Cone-billed Tanager to the genus Rhynchothraupis, in which it was originally described.

c. 12–14 cm; one male 15 g, one female 15·5 g. Male is mainly black with greenish gloss; centre of breast and belly white; small white patch at base of primaries, white underwing; iris dark brown; bill thick, pale blue-grey to whitish; legs greyish-brown to black. Differs from C. speculigera mainly in smaller size and lack of grey on rump and flanks. Female is plain grey-brown, slightly paler below, with breast pale olive-brown and centre of lower breast and belly buffy white; bill pale dull olive, legs dark brown. Juvenile not described; immature male has darker bill than adult, dark blue-grey, changing to adult colour from base to tip.

W Mato Grosso (upper R Juruena Basin) and SW Goiás (Emas National Park), in SC Brazil.

In Mato Grosso inhabits flooded areas along rivers, e.g. seasonally flooded forest and flooded grassland with scattered shrubs and moriche palms (Mauritia flexuosa), below c. 120 m; in Goiás, found also in brushy semi-deciduous to evergreen gallery forest, usually near water, and below 300 m. Type specimen said to have been found in bushy vegetation in dry forest in transition zone between Amazonian rainforest and open cerrado at c. 200 m (much of this habitat in the region now cleared).

Three-part song of male consists of several musical notes, followed by 2 slightly lower-pitched notes extended into trills, and finally a very high-pitched trill, e.g. “tche, tche, tche, tche, tche, tcherrrrrrrrrrrr, tcherrrrrrrrr, tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii”. Also has loud song on descending scale and ending with short metallic “tzi” (Mato Grosso), or faster and ending with even shorter ascending note (Goiás). Both sexes give loud “chank” call, similar to that of Ramphocelus carbo but somewhat more metallic.

ENDANGERED. Uncommon to rare, and very local. For 65 years known only from a single male specimen, taken in 1938 in WC Brazil, apparently from or near Juruena telegraph post, in Mato Grosso. In 2003, the species was found in Emas National Park , in Goiás, where song was tape-recorded (1 Buzzetti, D. and Carlos, B.A. (2005). A redescoberta do Tiê-bicudo (Conothraupis mesoleuca) (Berlioz, 1939). Atualidades Ornitológicas. 127: 4-5. In Portuguese. Close ), and between then and 2007 there were six sightings, including the first of the female, from four different locations within the park; a few recent sightings of up to three individuals have been made; estimated that the park could contain as many as 250 individuals, although true number likely to be far lower. In 2006, another small population was located 900 km to the NW, along the upper R Juruena and surrounding area, in Mato Grosso (2 Candia-Gallardo, C.E., Silveira, L.F. and Kuniy, A.A. (2010). A new population of the Cone-billed Tanger Conothraupis mesoleuca, with information on the biology, behaviour and type locality of the species. Bird Conservation International. 20(2): 149-160. Close ); subsequently, a minimum of 40 individuals was recorded at a total of 18 sites there, and the population in this region is thought to number perhaps fewer than 100 individuals. Now known from three additional sites: Itiquira (SE Mato Grosso), Sonora (N Mato Grosso) and Serra do Cachimbo (Pará) externallink . Population is estimated to be fewer than 1000 mature individuals, with the largest subpopulation numbering 250-500 mature individuals BirdLife International (2018) Species factsheet: Conothraupis mesoleuca. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 13/01/2018. . With more information on this species’ voice and habitat requirements now available, it could prove to be somewhat more widespread; intensive fieldwork in the appropriate habitats is urgently needed. Protection appears secure at Emas National Park (IUCN Cat. II; 1326 km²). In W Mato Grosso, the Chapada dos Parecis region (which extends widely across and beyond the upper Juruena basin) contains several areas of potentially suitable habitat not yet visited by ornithologists, and these areas, a mosaic of private and indigenous lands, certainly merit special surveys. A major threat is presented by planned hydro-electric developments on the upper Juruena, which could threaten this species’ survival there. Considered Endangered at the national level in Brazil (3 MMA (2014). Lista Nacional Oficial de Espécies da Fauna Ameaçadas de Extinção. Portaria No 444, de 17 de dezembro de 2014. Diário Oficial da União - Seção 1. Nº 245, quinta-feira, 18 de dezembro de 2014. Close ).