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

Taxonomic note

Scytalopus perijanus (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) is recognized as a species following work by Avendaño et al. (2015).

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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Near Threatened	B1ab(ii,iii,v)+2ab(ii,iii,v)
2016	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
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	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	3,600 km2
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	1,480 km2
Number of locations	11-100	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	10000-19999 mature individuals	poor	inferred	2021
Population trend	decreasing	-	inferred	2017-2027
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-15%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-15%	-	-	-
Generation length	3.06 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-10	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The population size of this species has not been quantified. A preliminary population estimate was derived from a congener with similar habitat requirements, the Ecuadorian Tapaculo (Scytalopus robbinsi); this species occurs at a density of c. 27 mature individuals per km² in suitable forest (Hermes et al. 2017). Assuming that the Perija Tapaculo occurs at a similar density, and further assuming that up to 75% of forests within the range offer suitable habitat (i.e. c.700 km²; Global Forest Watch 2021), the population may number c.19,000 mature individuals. To account for uncertainty, the population size is here preliminarily placed in the band 10,000-19,999 mature individuals.
The population structure has not been assessed, but based on observational records (eBird 2021) it is conceivable that the species forms several subpopulations.

Trend justification: The population trend has not been assessed directly, but the species is thought to decline due to habitat loss (Renjifo et al. 2016; del Hoyo et al. 2020). Over the past ten years, 2% of tree cover has been lost within the range (Global Forest Watch 2021). Considering that the species is also found in shrubby and secondary growth adjacent to forest (Avendaño et al. 2015; Renjifo et al. 2016; del Hoyo et al. 2020), population declines have likely been very low over the past ten years, not exceeding 10% over this period. In 2017 however, tree cover loss peaked at 0.63% per year, before falling again to negligible levels of <1% (Global Forest Watch 2021). Should deforestation rates increase to similarly high levels in the near future, up to 6% of tree cover may be lost within the range over the next ten years. Precautionarily, future population declines are therefore placed in the band 1-15% over the next ten years.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Colombia	Cerro Pintado (Serranía de Perijá)
Venezuela	Parque Nacional Perijá
Venezuela	Zona Protectora San Rafael de Guasare

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	marginal	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest	marginal	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	suitable	resident
Altitude	1600 - 3225 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem conversion
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Perija Tapaculo Scytalopus perijanus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/perija-tapaculo-scytalopus-perijanus on 23/11/2024.
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 23/11/2024.