Another new bird species from Colombia

Another new bird has been discovered in the Serranía de los Yariguíes mountains in Colombia. It is a subspecies of the Pale-bellied Tapaculo and was discovered by the researchers Thomas Donegan and Jorge Avendaño during an exploration of the Yariguíes mountains organised by ProAves, the Columbian bird conservation organisation.

Description
The new subspecies has mostly grey plumage with rufous in the vent and rump. It differs from other Pale-bellied Tapaculos in its darker back, longer tail and in some of its calls. The name honours the conservationist Robert Giles, who has contributed enormously to the establishment of ProAves' Cerulean Warbler nature reserve in the Yariguíes and other conservation projects in Colombia. It has been named Scytalopus griseicollis gilesi after Robert Giles The description was formally published last week in the scientific journal Ornitología Colombiana.

Third new species
This new subspecies of Pale-bellied Tapaculo is the third new taxon to be described from recent explorations of the Yariguíes mountains of Colombia. It follows the Yariguíes Brush-Finch and a new butterfly. These expeditions discovered what are thought to be several more new species, but they await scientific description due to the lengthy processes for review and publication.

Yariguies Mountains
The 100 km Yariguies mountain range went unstudied due to difficulty of access and political instability until recent surveys supported by ProAves. As well as yet undescribed species and subspecies, the expedition team found the world's most viable populations for various critically endangered bird species. As a result, the Yariguíes mountains were declared a 78,837 ha National Park and ProAves established a 545 ha nature reserve adjacent to the National Park.

The description of Scytalopus griseicollis gilesi was published as part of a substantial revision of the taxonomy of Colombian and Venezuelan tapaculos. Tapaculos are among the most poorly known of all birds because plumage of different species is often very similar. However, species can often be told apart by their strikingly different songs.
"This and other discoveries from our expeditions show the Yariguíes mountains to be a previously unknown centre of endemism" commented Thomas Donegan, "It is important to conserve the habitats of this region to protect the populations of this species and subspecies which, like this Tapaculo, are found nowhere else in the world."

Thomas Donegan is a member of Fundación ProAves' council and Jorge Avendaño was formerly an undergraduate student at Santander Industrial University and presently studying a postgrade in the Los Andes University in Bogota on a grant from Fundación ProAves.


Read more about Fundacion Proaves.