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 Avibirds European birdguide online
 New bird species discovered in the 21st century: the year 2007 |
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| Sincorá Antwren | 
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| Formicivora grantsaui | NOT YET EVALUATED |
| The Sincorá Antwren is restricted to the Serra do Sincorá in the Chapada Diamantina, Bahia. It is found in campos rupestres (rocky montane scrub) while the similar Rusty-backed Antwren F. rufa is found in cerrado, borders of gallery forest and white-sand forest. It differs from Rusty-backed Antwren in having darker and less rufous upperparts, less yellow on the flanks and having underwing coverts that are grey and white as opposed to pure white. |
Sincorá Antwren Formicivora grantsaui is found only in the campo rupestre vegetation of the Serra do Sincorá between 850 m and 1,100 m in the Chapada Diamantina region. First observed in 1997, it is closely related to Rusty-backed Antwren Formicivora rufa, with which it sometimes occurs sympatrically. It differs slightly in some plumage characters but more importantly it has quite distinctive vocalisations and each species utilises different habitats. Formicivora grantsaui occurs on rocky outcrops in the campo rupestre and F. rufa in the adjacent savannas.
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| Gorgeted Puffleg | 
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| Eriocnemis isabellae | NOT YET EVALUATED |
| The highly distinct new species is characterised by an enlarged, bicoloured iridescent throat patch (hence 'Gorgeted') in males and white tufts above the legs which are characteristic of 'Puffleg' hummingbirds. The flamboyantly coloured Gorgeted Puffleg Eriocnemis isabellae, a new species of hummingbird, has been discovered in Colombia. But there are concerns over its future safety because the Serrania del Pinche mountains where it was discovered are unprotected. Ornithologists Alexander Cortés-Diago and Luis Alfonso Ortega made three sightings of the new hummingbird during surveys in 2005 of montane cloud forest in the Serrania del Pinche, south-west Colombia. The Gorgeted Puffleg (Eriocnemis isabellae) is a hummingbird endemic to Colombia. |
This species was discovered in 2005, but not confirmed as new until 2007. It faces the risk of extinction, and therefore a status of Critically Endangered has been recommended: its only known habitat, the cloud forests of the Serrania del Pinche (Choco region), is under threat by agriculture, especially coca farming.
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New species in:
2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008
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| Rufous Twistwing | 
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| Cnipodectes superrufus | VULNERABLE |
| A tyrannid assignable to genus Cnipodectes by a combination of relatively large size; broad, flat bill surrounded by well-developed rictal bristles; shaggy plumage texture overall; broad, squared tertials with pale inner and outer edges; and primaries twisted in their orientation, with primaries 8-6 having a modified shaft structure on the underside and a raised ridge along the inner web. It can be distinguished from all forms of C. subbrunneus by its richly saturated rufous plumage, larger size, and proportionately narrower bill. A distinctive new species of twistwing (Tyrannidae: Cnipodectes) from southeastern Peru has been discovered. Despite extensive ornithological research in the region, this species has escaped notice, which suggests that it may be restricted to larger blocks of forest dominated by bamboo, a habitat poorly surveyed in Amazonia. |
This large tyrannid is a Guadua bamboo specialist that has been found at a number of sites in SE Peru and adjacent Bolivia. The first specimen was collected in 1990, but it was misidentified as Rufous Casiornis. Currently known from only a few sites in the departments of Madre de Dios and Cuzco, the species life history is very poorly known. To date, the only other species of Cnipodectes, C. subbrunneus (Brownish Twistwing), is not known from most of southeastern Peru. In all the authors' encounters with C. superrufus, the individuals perched 1-3 m off the ground and sallied for arthropods, changing perches with each foraging maneuver. Estimated foraging maneuver is about every 30 s as the bird progressed along a 30-m-wide bamboo corridor between two pastures. Also noticed is that the species performs a lethargic wing-raising behavior, similar to that reported for C. subbrunneus.
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| Solomon Islands Frogmouth | 
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| Polioptila clementsi | NOT YET EVALUATED |
| Originally, the bird was misclassified as a subspecies of the Australian Marbled Frogmouth, Podargus ocellatus. The blunder went undetected for decades, until a collecting trip led by Kratter in 1998 turned up a specimen on Isabel, a 1,500-square-mile island in the Solomons. The Solomon Islands Frogmouth differs from other frogmouths in a number of significant ways. First, it is probably not as accomplished of a flier because its eight tail-feathers, instead of the typical 10 to 12 on other frogmouths, curtail its lift potential, and its much coarser feathers reduce maneuverability. |
Second, it has distinct barring on the primary wing feathers and tail feathers, where other frogmouths are more uniform. Its speckles are larger, and the white spots on its breast and underbelly are more pronounced than on other frogmouths. Two other genera of frogmouths exist: one in southeast Asia and the other in Australia and New Guinea. The Solomon Islands Frogmouth is known to inhabit three islands: Isabel, Bougainville and Guadalcanal.
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