• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note

Conopophaga lineata and C. cearae (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as C. lineata following SACC (2005 and updates) and Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

 

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	C2a(i)	C2a(i)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Near Threatened	C2a(i)
2016	Least Concern
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	21 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	449,000 km2	medium

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	1500-7400, 3200 mature individuals	poor	suspected	2021
Population trend	decreasing	-	inferred	2012-2022
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-10%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-10%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-10%	-	-	-
Generation length	2.91 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	3-20	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The species is considered common at a few sites, but generally rare at most sites (Greeney 2018). It is quite common throughout the Serra de Baturité (Albano and Girão 2008, B. Whitney in litt., in Greeney 2018). In Alagoas, the species was found in only three (20%) of 15 surveyed forest fragments (Silveira et al. 2003).

No direct estimates of the population size or density are available. Based on the first quartile and median population densities of congeners (2.4 and 3.7 individuals per km², respectively, based on density estimates for C. aurita and C. peruviana; Thiollay 1986, Terborgh et al. 1990), the estimated area of tree cover with at least 50% canopy cover within the species's mapped range in 2020 (c.9,900 km²; Global Forest Watch 2021), and assuming the tree cover to be 10-30% occupied, the population size is here tentatively suspected to fall within the range 2,400 - 11,000 individuals, roughly equating to 1,500 - 7,400 mature individuals, with a best estimate placed at 3,200 mature individuals (based on the first quartile density and 20% occupancy).

The subpopulation structure is not known, but based on its distribution, the species is assumed to have between three and 20 subpopulations. The size of the largest subpopulation is not known, but may be very small, and is here tentatively suspected to fall within the band 200 - 3,900 mature individuals, with the minimum based on the estimated area of tree cover on the Serra de Baturité, the first quartile density of a congener and assuming 50% habitat occupancy, and the maximum based on the estimated tree cover within the mapped range in the Chapada Diamantina region, the median density of a congener and assuming 30% habitat occupancy.

Trend justification: There have been no recent records at forest fragments where the species was previously recorded in Ceará, Paraíba, Pernambuco and Alagoas, suggesting local extinctions (D. Mendes Lima in litt. 2021). Remote-sensing data on tree cover loss indicates that approximately 4% of tree cover with at least 50% canopy cover was lost from within the species's mapped range over the past decade from 2010-2020 (Global Forest Watch 2021). This species tolerates some forest degradation and also occurs in restinga scrub, which may not be included in the forest loss data. However, the species generally occurs close to intact habitat, so it is precautionarily inferred that the species's population size is declining. The rate of decline may be exacerbated by habitat degradation. The species is suspected to be declining slowly at a rate of up to 10% over ten years.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Brazil	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Brazil	Serra do Baturité

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Moist	major	resident
Altitude	300 - 2000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	0 - 2300 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Ceara Gnateater Conopophaga cearae. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/ceara-gnateater-conopophaga-cearae on 27/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 27/11/2024.