New bird Species in the 21st century

Newly discovered birds 2003

Carrizal Seedeater
Amaurospiza carrizalensis	CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
Male is glossy blue-black with sooty black wings and brighter blue shoulder.Underwing coverts and axillars are white. Bill is large, deep and conical, dark grey. Female is light buff-brown with an olive-grey bill. Similar spp separable from other Amaurospiza by the denisty of colouration and black flammulations on the breast as well as overall size.
Amaurospiza carrizalensis was recently described following collection of the holotype on Isla Carrizal in the Río Caroni, Venezuela. Since then its habitat on the island has been destroyed in the development of Guri Dam. It has not been recorded elsewhere so is assumed to have an extremely small population and to be declining as other potentially suitable habitat continues to be destroyed. However, the low number of records may be partly due to the difficulty in surveying its habitat, which as a result has rarely been explored. It has only been found in stands of spiny Guadua latifolia and Ripidocladus sp. bamboo forest. Its bill shows some degree of specialisation for feeding. From stomach content analysis of collected specimens it is known to feed on weevil spp. which may be specific to its spiny forest habitat. Habitat at the only known locality was all destroyed during the development of the Guri Dam, which subsequently flooded this location. This development also destroyed other potentially suitable habitat in this area. Continuing forest clearance is likely to remain a threat to any other populations that exist. (birdlife.org).
Munchique Wood-wren
Henicorhina negreti	CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
A typical wood-wren. Sexes are similar, dark brown on the crown with warmer brown upperparts, short wings and tail are lighter warm brown barred with darker barring, prominent white supercilium above black eyestripe and ear coverts streaked white, throat white, chest pale grey, flanks, vent and undertail coverts chestnut, finely barred on the abdomen.
Similar spp very similar to Grey-breasted Wood-wren H. leucophrys, best features to aid separation are barred abdomen and cooler grey upperparts in Munchiques Wood-wren. It also has longer tarsi and a shorter tail than Grey-breasted. Voice is distinctive. Voice repeated phrases of 6-12 clear notes, each phrase lasting c. 2 seconds. Henicorhina negreti is restricted to a tiny range in the western Andes of Colombia where the departments of Chocó, Antioquia and Risaralda meet; and in Munchique massif (Valle de Cauca). A Fundación ProAves monitoring team discovered a tiny population in extreme eastern Chocó and SW Antioquia department. It appears to have very specific habitat requirements, being restricted to the Pacific slope of the very peaks of the highest mountains/ridges on the Western Cordillera. The Western Cordillera is the lowest and narrowest of Columbia's three Andean ranges. As a result this species's global area of occupancy is tiny. 5-8 territorial pairs or males were registered along a 2 km transect. This represents a much lower density than parapatric populations of H. leucophrys (c. 10-14 territorial pairs per 2 two km transect). The population density of 1 km2 may be as few as 10 pairs or as high as 16 pairs. Extrapolating the estimated population density to the Cauca and Antioquia areas of occupancy gives a global population between 180 pairs and 288 pairs based on the data available. This extremely small population is likely to be declining owing to ongoing forest clearance. Further declines in the future may be unavoidable if climatic conditions change. There have been many surveys of the high peaks along the Western Cordillera (both historically and in the past decade) that have failed to record this species, suggesting there are unlikely to be many undiscovered populations remaining. It is very specific in its habitat requirements, occurring in extremely wet, stunted cloud forest where it is common in naturally disturbed forest with patchy successional habitat, typically preferring an extremely dense understorey smothered in epiphytes at forest borders, landslides and along stream gullies. This forest is characterized by almost continuous cloud or fog cover. It has been recorded between 2,250 m and 2,640 m. It feeds on arthropods gleaned from near to the forest floor, typically below 2 m. It will associate briefly with multi-species flocks as they pass through its territory. Forest clearance affects this species directly, but it also leads to reduced cloud and fog cover and a general drying of the habitat. This allows congeners to colonise the areas where Munchique Wood-wrens currently occur in isolation. Global warming has the potential to shift the elevation at which H. negreti and H. leucophrys replace one another (presumably upwards with increasing temperature), potentially reducing the possible range of the species. Human pressure in Munchique is escalating. Consequently deforestation within Munchique national park, until recently essentially pristine, is now a serious issue and continues within the two protected areas which support this species. (Salaman, Paul, Paul Coopmans, Thomas M. Donegan, Mark Mulligan, Alex Cortés, Steven L. Hilty and Luis Alfonso Ortega (2003) A new species of wood-wren (Troglodytidae: Henicorhina) from the western Andes of Colombia Ornitologia Colombiana Vol. 1 pp.4-21). (birdlife.org)
Rowi
Apteryx rowi	CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
Okarito brown kiwi, or rowi, are New Zealand's rarest kiwi, with an estimated 250 surviving in just 10,000 hectares in South Okarito Forest, in South Westland. It was only in 1994 that they were found to be an entirely new species and given the name rowi. Rowi vary from other types of kiwi in a range of ways. The most obvious difference is that rowi are quite greyish in colour and often have patches of white feathers on their faces. They also feel soft to touch, whereas North Island Brown Kiwi feels quite coarse.
Both the male and female rowi take it in turns to look after the eggs, while in most other kiwi varieties only the male does this. Rowi have a much higher adult survival rate than North Island kiwi. Some rowi may live up to 100 years while North Island species may live up to 32 years. Conservation efforts such as Operation Nest Egg and the stoat control regime have been partially successful in restoring the Rowi population. However, the rowi is still in a fragile stage of existence. Predation, mainly from imported animals such as stoats, is still the biggest threat to the Rowi. The female will lay up to three eggs, each in a different nest. Both male and female incubate the eggs. Investigating the status of the Okarito population began in the early 1990's by surveying Okarito Forest and monitoring breeding burrows. It soon became apparent that the population was in decline and the likely cause of the decline was stoat predation. Stoats were bought to New Zealand to help in the control of rabbits but unfortunately they found that our native birds were an easier target. Although adult kiwi are strong enough to defend themselves, kiwi chicks are extremely vulnerable until they attain approximately 1 kilogram in weight. To date no rowi are known to have been predated by stoats once over this weight. Possums are another threat to rowi. They have been videotaped entering kiwi burrows and may damage eggs and possibly disrupt kiwi breeding attempts. Possum numbers have been reduced to low levels since a major control operation in 1998 and their density is monitored bi-annually.
Rubeho Forest-partridge
Xenoperdix obscurata	ENDANGERED
The Udzungwa forest partridge, Xenoperdix udzungwensis, is one of Africa's rarest birds, considered threatened ("Vulnerable", see BirdLife International, 2000) because of its very small range. The species is known from only three forests within the Udzungwa and Rubeho Highlands of the Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania.
Xenoperdix obscurata is a small, approximately 29 cm long, boldly barred, brownish partridge with rufous face, grey underparts, olive-brown crown and upperparts. It has a red bill, brown iris and yellow legs. Both sexes are similar. It inhabits and is endemic to forests of the Rubeho Highlands in Tanzania. It was formerly considered to be a well-marked subspecies of the Udzungwa Forest-partridge, Xenoperdix udzungwensis of the Udzungwa Mountains, but is now recognized to be specifically distinct [1]). The diet consists mainly of beetles, ants and seeds. Due to ongoing habitat loss, small population size, limited range and overhunting, the Rubeho Forest-partridge is now endangered. Bowie, Rauri C.K. & Fjeldså, Jon (2005): Genetic and morphological evidence for two species in the Udzungwa forest partridge. Journal of East African Natural History 94(1): 191-201. Download article