THE RED LIST
ments are smaller than ten hectares and few
are larger than 1,000. There’s little chance for
fragments to connect with each other, as they
are surrounded by sugarcane plantations: hardly
a welcoming ecosystem for wild animals. The
remaining patches are threatened by fire, logging and firewood removal. It does not come
as a surprise that many of the inhabitants of the
Atlantic Forest are in peril. In fact, over 70% of
nearly 200 endemic bird species found there are
of elevated conservation concern.
CRYPTIC BY NAME,
CRYPTIC BY NATURE
The Cryptic Treehunter is so elusive, researchers are not even sure it still exists anymore.
The name reflects its enigmatic nature, but the reasons
why its habitat is vanishing are somewhat more glaring
researchers should be cheering for the discovery
of a new species, the immediate response was
concern; deforestation has been running wild
within the home range of this small bird. This is
why like other unique species in the same area,
it has gone straight into the highest threat category: Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct).
Serra do Urubu, home
of the Cryptic Treehunter.
Photo Marc Egger
0
Cryptic Treehunter.
Illustration HBW
1
Irene Lorenzo
J
uan and Dante once again ventured into
the dense forests of Murici in north-eastern Brazil, hoping to see some rare birds. When
the two researchers left the Centre for Ornithological Studies in São Paulo that week, they
could not imagine what they were about to witness. As the two friends discussed their sightings, a flash of cinnamon brown stopped them
on their tracks. Hidden in the 20m high forest
canopy, there it was. A small bird that looked like
an Alagoas Foliage-gleaner Philydor novaesi –
itself also on the brink of extinction. But something was off. It was slightly larger and darker.
The bill seemed longer. And the weirdest part: it
screeched, loudly. The call could not belong to
the whistling Foliage-gleaner. In fact, it sounded
more like a Pale-browed Treehunter Cichlocolaptes leucophrus. But they were outside of this
species’ range – it’s found in south-eastern Brazil,
not in the north. What could they be looking at?
On that day in October 2002, Juan Mazar Barnett and Dante Buzzetti had in fact discovered
20
No photographs of a live
Cryptic Treehunter have
been made public.
Above, the similar looking
Alagoas Foliage-gleaner
Philydor novaesi.
Photo Ciro Albano
0
DISCOVERED
IN 2002 BY BARNETT
AND BUZZETTI, THE
BIRD IS ALREADY
CRITICALLY
ENDANGERED
a new species. Since it was so difficult to spot,
researchers decided to call it Cryptic Treehunter.
In Portuguese, it was named gritador-do-nordeste – the screamer of the northeast, after its
unique screeching sound. The scientific name
came a few years later, after Juan Barnett had
passed away. Dante dedicated the name Cichlocolaptes mazarbarnetti to his colleague, in recognition of a life devoted to ornithology.
In the following years, other researchers had
the same luck as Juan and Dante and recorded
new sightings of the Cryptic, until 2007, when
the screamer suddenly fell silent. Almost ten
years have passed and the bird has not been
seen again; it was last spotted at Serra do Urubu
in February 2005 and at Murici in April 2007.
Since it hasn’t been reported in any other sites, if
the species survives, the estimated global population would be very low – under 50 individuals.
As the description of the new species was confirmed, it was added to this year’s Red List. While
BIRDLIFE • DECEMBER 2016
Researchers have had difficulty locating the
species as only the call can be used to confirm its
presence. All we know is that the regions of Serra
do Urubu and Murici are part of a highly threatened ecosystem and biodiversity hotspot known
as the Atlantic Forest. This forest stretches across
eastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina. It is a neotropical, humid ecosystem that is home to about 20,000 species of
plants, 260 species of mammals and 700 species of birds, many of which can’t be found anywhere else in the world. But the Atlantic Forest is
not what it used to be. This vast region used to
extend beyond 150 million hectares; an endless
expanse of trees, hosting an incredible amount
of endemic species, teeming with life. However, in recent years, unremitting logging and
deforestation have left just 11% of it still standing.
Sugarcane plantations and cattle ranching have
sliced up and degraded this primeval forest.
Today, the Atlantic Forest is not the continuous jungle one would imagine. The region
is a mosaic of over 245,000 pieces with
little original forest cover left. Most frag-
DECEMBER 2016 • BIRDLIFE
BECAUSE OF SUGAR
CANE AND CATTLE
RANCHING
ONLY 11%
OF THE ATLANTIC
FOREST REMAINS
Along the Atlantic Forest range the situation is
not homogenous. In the south-east there are
still some large protected areas with more than
100,000 hectares. The most extreme situation in
terms of threat and fragmentation is taking place
in the north-east, where both the Cryptic Treehunter and the Alagoas Foliage-gleaner live. The
forest cover is declining fast and extensive logging has been reported in the areas where these
birds have been sighted.
However, SAVE Brasil (BirdLife Partner) is working hard to save this vital ecosystem. In 2004,
they purchased one important forest area of
360 hectares, adjacent to a private reserve in Frei
Caneca, Serra do Urubu. The combined area,
part of which was being deforested as a result
of charcoal exploitation, is today 1,000 hectares
of well managed, protected forest. A year later,
they started conducting bird monitoring in both
reserves and while there were