Sporophila melanops

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	Passeriformes	Emberizidae

Scientific Name:

Sporophila melanops

Species Authority:

(Pelzeln, 1870)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Hooded Seedeater

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Critically Endangered D ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2009

Assessor/s

BirdLife International

Evaluator/s:

Bird, J., Butchart, S., Symes, A.(BirdLife International)

Justification:
This species has not been recorded since the type specimen was collected in 1823, and it may have gone extinct as a result of habitat loss and/or other threatening processes. However, it cannot yet be presumed to be Extinct because the region of the type-locality has been poorly surveyed, and habitat destruction has not been severe. This suggests that, if the species is not nomadic or migratory, it may well still be extant. Any remaining population is likely to be tiny, and for these reasons it is treated as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct).

History:

2008	–	Critically Endangered
2004	–	Critically Endangered
2000	–	Critically Endangered
1994	–	Vulnerable
1988	–	Lower Risk/least concern

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Sporophila melanops is known from one adult male collected in October 1823. The specimen was taken at a lake 15 km north of Registro do Araguaia, on the east bank of the rio Araguaia in extreme west-central Goiás, Brazil. Searches along the floodplain of the Araguaia river, most recently in December 2008-January 2009, have not produced any sightings⁴.
Countries:	Possibly extinct: Brazil
Range Map:	(click map to view full version)

Population [top]

Population:	Any remaining population assumed to be tiny, with no records since the collection of the type specimen in 1823.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Population:

Any remaining population assumed to be tiny, with no records since the collection of the type specimen in 1823.

Population Trend:

Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	The type-specimen was obtained from a flock of other finches in presumably open habitat. It was in heavy moult.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	None are known. Habitat destruction in the region is unlikely to have been sufficiently extensive to extirpate the species. However, the year-round distribution of the species is unknown and therefore deductions regarding threats are somewhat meaningless.

Major Threat(s):

None are known. Habitat destruction in the region is unlikely to have been sufficiently extensive to extirpate the species. However, the year-round distribution of the species is unknown and therefore deductions regarding threats are somewhat meaningless.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	Conservation actions underway: A seven day survey in the Araguaia river floodplain in December 2008-2009 failed to find the species⁴. Conservation actions proposed: Search Sporophila spp. flocks in Goiás and adjacent Mato Grosso, including the Pantanal do Rio das Mortes, Mato Grosso, areas along Ilha do Bananal, Tocantins, and perhaps northern Paraguay and eastern Bolivia. Carry out further wide-ranging surveys of the Araguaia Valley at different seasons to fully discount the possibility that S. melanops is either still extant or a valid taxon. Re-examine the type-specimen to fully establish the diagnostic characters and determine its moult stage, and examine specimens of nigricollis to determine whether any show some or all of the characters associated with melanops⁴.

Conservation Actions:

Conservation actions underway:

A seven day survey in the Araguaia river floodplain in December 2008-2009 failed to find the species⁴.

Conservation actions proposed:

Search Sporophila spp. flocks in Goiás and adjacent Mato Grosso, including the Pantanal do Rio das Mortes, Mato Grosso, areas along Ilha do Bananal, Tocantins, and perhaps northern Paraguay and eastern Bolivia. Carry out further wide-ranging surveys of the Araguaia Valley at different seasons to fully discount the possibility that S. melanops is either still extant or a valid taxon. Re-examine the type-specimen to fully establish the diagnostic characters and determine its moult stage, and examine specimens of nigricollis to determine whether any show some or all of the characters associated with melanops⁴.

Citation:	BirdLife International 2009. Sporophila melanops. In: IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 21 November 2009.
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