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

Taxonomic note

Microspingus alticola (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) was previously placed in the genus Poospiza following SACC (2005 & updates); Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993); Stotz et al. (1996).

 

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.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	C2a(i)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Near Threatened	C2a(i)
2016	Endangered	C2a(i)
2012	Endangered	C2a(i)
2008	Endangered	C2a(i)
2004	Endangered
2000	Endangered
1996	Endangered
1994	Endangered
1988	Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	35,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2500-9999 mature individuals	poor	suspected	2023
Population trend	decreasing	poor	inferred	-
Generation length	3.25 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	5-10	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as generally uncommon (Schulenberg et al. 2007). It appears to be patchily distributed within its range (see eBird 2023). It is precautionarily suspected that the population numbers between 2,500 and 9,999 mature individuals, consisting of several small and disconnected subpopulations. These values however are of poor quality and not based on quantitative evidence, and an accurate quantification is urgently required.

Trend justification: The population trend has not been investigated. Polylepis/Gynoxys woodlands are however increasingly lost, fragmented and degraded as a consequence of human activities and livestock grazing; matrix habitat is often unsuitable for forest-dependent species (Lloyd and Marsden 2008). Microspingus alticola is strongly associated with larger patches of Polylepis forest (Sevillano-Ríos and Rodewald 2017). Consequently, on the basis of ongoing fragmentation of forests and conversion into unsuitable habitats, a continuing decline in the population size is inferred.

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Peru	Cerro Huanzalá-Huallanca
Peru	Champará
Peru	El Molino
Peru	Parque Nacional Huascarán
Peru	Río Abiseo y Tayabamba
Peru	Río Marañón

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	major	resident
Altitude	3100 - 4600 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
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
Agriculture & aquaculture	Wood & pulp plantations - Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Increase in fire frequency/intensity	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Soil erosion, sedimentation	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Plain-tailed Warbling-finch Microspingus alticola. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/plain-tailed-warbling-finch-microspingus-alticola on 23/12/2024.
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 23/12/2024.