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Tachira Antpitta

Grallaria chthonia

About

The Tachira Antpitta is only known from four specimens, all of which were male.

These specimens were collected in 1956 and this species not been seen since then, leading to fears this species may have gone extinct. Although, it may just persist within a large national park, with a tiny population, as there are remote areas within the El Tama National Park, which are possibly suitable for this species. The Grallaria genus of ground antpittas were once placed in the Formicidae, ground antbird family, but recent analyses suggest that the group is divergent enough to warrant separate family status into their own family, the Grallariidae. Since 1996, the rio Chiquito valley was entirely coffee plantations below 1,600 metres and the habitat at 1,900-2,200 was converted to grow vegetables. This habitat conversion was likely to cause the decline seen in this species.

  • Order: Passeriformes
  • Family: Grallariidae
  • Population: <50
  • Trend: decreasing
  • Size: 17cm

EDGE Score

EDGE Score: 4.89 (?)
ED Score: 7.3 (?)
GE / IUCN Red List (?)
Not Evaluated Data Deficient Least Concern Near Threatened Vulnerable Endangered Critically Endangered Extinct in the Wild Extinct

Distribution

The species is found at Hacienda la Providencia on the Rio Chiquito in south-west Táchira, west Venezuela.

Habitat and Ecology

This species was found at an altitude between 1,800-2,100 metres above sea level in subtropical, cloud forest.

Find out more

This wordcloud illustrates the threats facing this species. The size of each word indicates the extent of a species range that is affected by that threat (larger size means a greater area is affected). The colour of the word indicates how much that threat impacts the species (darker shades of red mean the threat is more severe).

Crops

Threat wordcloud key:

Small area affected
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
Large area affected
Least severe
Most severe
Severity unknown
Source: The IUCN List of Threatened Species. Version 2017.1.
Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org