6 thoughts on “Creamy-bellied Gnatcatcher (Polioptila lactea)”
Over the past 15 years of fieldwork in the Atlantic Forest of central Misiones, Argentina, I have found Creamy-bellied Gnatcatcher to be common and stable or increasing in numbers, albeit in some of the more extensive and better conserved forests in the range of the species (RB Yaboty, PP Arauacaria, PP Cruce Cabellero, Valle Alegria).
The past distribution extended further west and north into Paraguay than is shown, but most of this part of the range has now been lost because of deforestation in Paraguay (based on eBird sightings).
The species does not occur in large portions of its mapped distribution, because of the replacement of natural forest cover by cattle pasture and crops (especially soybeans and maize) over large parts of the Brazilian part of its range.
A more complete analysis of when these losses occurred (first revising the distribution map to include all citizen science records – it extends further south in Rio Grande do Sul as well, see WikiAves) would help to confirm whether any change from NT to LC is genuine or non-genuine. It would appear to me from a superficial analysis that at some point in recent decades, there has been sufficient loss of range and population for this species to qualify as threatened or Near Threatened, and thus if it is to be downlisted now, it might qualify as a genuine change.
On the Brazilian National Red List, it is considered LC, and the proposed downlisting would result in consistency between the two lists, although this is not a Brazilian endemic.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now temporarily closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 6 February 2023. We will now analyse and interpret new information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 6 February 2023, when discussions will re-open.
Following comments submitted on this discussion forum, the range map has been updated to include occupied areas in southern Brazil and previously occupied areas in Paraguay. EOO and rate of tree cover loss have been recalculated, and the species factsheet has been updated to reflect this information. However, even when accounting for higher rates of tree cover loss in the previously occupied areas in Paraguay, there is no evidence that population declines exceeded 20% over ten years at any time since 2000. Consequently, there is currently no indication that the species truly qualified as Near Threatened, approaching a listing as threatened under Criterion A, in the past; the proposed status change would therefore be nongenuine. Should new information become available this will however be re-analysed.
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2023 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classifications outlined in the initial forum discussion.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 12 February 2023, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2023 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in December 2023, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret available information, and we will post a final decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 20 February 2023.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Creamy-bellied Gnatcatcher is recommended to be listed as Least Concern.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2023.1 GTB Forum process. The final 2023 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in December 2023, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Over the past 15 years of fieldwork in the Atlantic Forest of central Misiones, Argentina, I have found Creamy-bellied Gnatcatcher to be common and stable or increasing in numbers, albeit in some of the more extensive and better conserved forests in the range of the species (RB Yaboty, PP Arauacaria, PP Cruce Cabellero, Valle Alegria).
The past distribution extended further west and north into Paraguay than is shown, but most of this part of the range has now been lost because of deforestation in Paraguay (based on eBird sightings).
The species does not occur in large portions of its mapped distribution, because of the replacement of natural forest cover by cattle pasture and crops (especially soybeans and maize) over large parts of the Brazilian part of its range.
A more complete analysis of when these losses occurred (first revising the distribution map to include all citizen science records – it extends further south in Rio Grande do Sul as well, see WikiAves) would help to confirm whether any change from NT to LC is genuine or non-genuine. It would appear to me from a superficial analysis that at some point in recent decades, there has been sufficient loss of range and population for this species to qualify as threatened or Near Threatened, and thus if it is to be downlisted now, it might qualify as a genuine change.
On the Brazilian National Red List, it is considered LC, and the proposed downlisting would result in consistency between the two lists, although this is not a Brazilian endemic.
See the National Red List assessment: Polioptila lactea in: https://salve.icmbio.gov.br/#/
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now temporarily closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 6 February 2023. We will now analyse and interpret new information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 6 February 2023, when discussions will re-open.
Preliminary proposal
Following comments submitted on this discussion forum, the range map has been updated to include occupied areas in southern Brazil and previously occupied areas in Paraguay. EOO and rate of tree cover loss have been recalculated, and the species factsheet has been updated to reflect this information. However, even when accounting for higher rates of tree cover loss in the previously occupied areas in Paraguay, there is no evidence that population declines exceeded 20% over ten years at any time since 2000. Consequently, there is currently no indication that the species truly qualified as Near Threatened, approaching a listing as threatened under Criterion A, in the past; the proposed status change would therefore be nongenuine. Should new information become available this will however be re-analysed.
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2023 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classifications outlined in the initial forum discussion.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 12 February 2023, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2023 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in December 2023, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret available information, and we will post a final decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 20 February 2023.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Creamy-bellied Gnatcatcher is recommended to be listed as Least Concern.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2023.1 GTB Forum process. The final 2023 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in December 2023, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.