Justification of Red List category
This has very small and may be declining, but it is not yet severely fragmented or restricted to few locations. Given its abundance, the remoteness of its range, the lack of evidence for a decline and the fact that much of its range is protected, it has been downlisted from Near Threatened to Least Concern.
Population justification
The population is preliminarily estimated to number at least 10,000 individuals, roughly equating to 6,700 mature individuals. This requires confirmation.
Trend justification
The population is suspected to be stable as there is no evidence for ongoing habitat degradation (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001, N. Krabbe in litt. 2011, J. Freile in litt. 2012).
Metallura odomae is relatively common within three areas of southernmost Ecuador (including Podocarpus and Yacuri National Parks), and on Cerro Chinguela, north Peru (Piura), at 2,850-3,350 m (Fjeldså and Krabbe 1990, Wege and Long 1995, Parker et al. 1996, Stattersfield et al. 1998, Ridgely and Greenfield 2001, Schulenberg et al. 2007). It occurs in elfin forest, forest edge and scrub where, despite its numerical abundance (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001, N. Krabbe in litt. 2011), it was thought to be vulnerable owing to its highly restricted distribution (Parker et al. 1982, Stattersfield et al. 1998).
It occurs in humid tree-line pajonal with forested ravines, on páramo and in patches of mossy elfin forest above the tree-line (del Hoyo et al. 1999).
The Cerro Chinguela páramo is grazed by small numbers of cattle, and burnt annually by local herders, which must adversely affect various species of grasses and shrubs, possibly affecting population size and distribution (Wege and Long 1995). However, no burning or grazing occurs within its known range in Podocarpus National Park.
Conservation Actions Underway
CITES II. CITES Appendix II. Occurs in Podocarpus and Yacuri (J. Freile in litt. 2011) National Parks, Ecuador, and Tabaconas-Namballe National Sanctuary, Peru.
Text account compilers
Benstead, P., Capper, D., Sharpe, C J, Symes, A.
Contributors
Freile, J., Krabbe, N.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Neblina Metaltail Metallura odomae. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/neblina-metaltail-metallura-odomae on 22/11/2024.
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 22/11/2024.