Cherry-throated Tanager
© Andre C. De Luca / SAVE Brasil
The Cherry-throated Tanager, Nemosia rourei, is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. Previously feared to be extinct, this Atlantic Forest endemic was rediscovered in Espírito Santo State, Brazil, in 1998, a lapse of 47 years after the previous sighting.
Centuries of forest clearance for cattle ranches, plantations and timber have drastically reduced the indigenous Atlantic Forest of Brazil. Today, the Cherry-throated Tanager survives in isolated forest fragments at elevations greater than 850 metres above sea level, and what little remains of its habitat is under further threat from agricultural and urban encroachment and timber extraction.
With potentially fewer than 50 individuals remaining, the Cherry-throated Tanager is in drastic need of major conservation measures. Surveys have been conducted in recent years, the results of which demonstrate how rare the species is, along with a study of its ecology. Several privately owned forest tracts now need to be established as reserves in order to safeguard the long-term future of this enigmatic and elusive bird.
IUCN Archive
