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

Justification of Red List category

Based on remote sensing data on tree cover loss across the range and the species’s susceptibility to forest fragmentation and disturbance, the population size is suspected to be declining rapidly. The species is therefore classified as Vulnerable.

Population justification
This species is described as 'rare' (Stotz et al. 1996; Lees et al. 2012) and is seldom recorded in Brazil, even in extensively surveyed areas (Lees et al. 2013; Leal et al. 2018). However, it is seen regularly at ten or so protected sites in Costa Rica, and at almost a dozen sites in Panama (P. Salaman in litt. 2020). It appears to occur at low population densities, even in primary forest. Its population density has been estimated at 0.25 pairs per 100 ha in Amazonian Peru (Terborgh et al. 1990), roughly equivalent to 0.75 individuals per km².

The population size is suspected to be larger than 50,000 mature individuals (Partners in Flight 2020). Based on the above density estimate, the area of tree cover with at least 50% canopy cover within its mapped extant range in 2010 (approx. 2,535,000 km²; Global Forest Watch 2021), and assuming an occupancy of 5-10%, the population size is tentatively suspected to fall within the range 95,000-191,000 individuals, roughly equating to 63,000-127,000 mature individuals.

The subpopulation structure is not known, but there are seven subspecies, so it can be inferred that there are at least seven subpopulations.

Trend justification
The species appears to have disappeared from localities where is was previously recorded, such as Barro Colorado Island, which became isolated by flooding in the 1910s, and where the species was last recorded in 1935 (Willis 1974), and the metropolitan region of Belem, where there has been extensive deforestation and the species was last recorded in 1912 (Moura et al. 2014). It appears to have disappeared from much of its former range in Bahia, Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo, where there has been extensive deforestation (Marques et al. 2018).

Based on remote sensing data on tree cover loss, approximately 14% of tree cover with at least 50% canopy cover has been lost from within the species's extant range over the past three generations (19 years; Global Forest Watch 2021). Deforestation within the range was particularly high in 2016-2017; over four years from 2016-2019, approximately 4.5% of tree cover was lost (Global Forest Watch 2021). Extrapolating this rate, it is projected that up to 22% of tree cover may be lost from the range over the next three generations (19 years). The species is thought to be highly susceptible to fragmentation and disturbance (Healy et al. 2020). Forest disturbance has been found to double biodiversity loss from deforestation at sites in northeast Brazil (Barlow et al. 2016). The species is therefore suspected to have undergone a population reduction of 14-21% over the past three generations, and it is suspected to undergo a population reduction of 16-34% over the next three generations.

Neomorphus geoffroyi has a wide but disjunct distribution in the Neotropics, occurring from Honduras, south through Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama to Colombia; in western Amazonia from Colombia through Ecuador to northern Peru; in the Atlantic forest of Brazil; and across Brazilian Amazonia to eastern Peru and northern Bolivia.
There are seven subspecies. N. G. salvini occurs in eastern Hondurus and Nicaragua, along the Caribbean slope in Costa Rica, throughout Panama and into northeast Colombia. N. g. aequatorialis occurs in Colombia (West Caquetá), eastern Ecuador, and northern Peru (Healy et al. 2020). N. g. amazonicus occurs in Amazonian Brazil, south of the river Amazon, including in Pará, Rondônia, Mato Grosso, and Maranhão (Healy et al. 2020). N. .g. squamiger occurs in Pará, Brazil, between the rivers Madeira and Xingu. N. g. australis occurs in southeastern Peru and northwestern Bolivia (Healy et al. 2020). N. g. geoffroyi is found in Bahia, Brazil, where it may be extinct from much of its former range (Silva et al. 2018), but it was recorded in camera trap photographs in the Boqueirão da Onça region, Sento Sé municipality in 2007 and 2009 (Roos et al. 2012). N. g. dulcis occurs in the Atlantic forest in Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais and historically in Rio de Janeiro (Erritzøe et al. 2012; Mallet-Rodrigues and Pacheco 2015); it currently appears to be restricted to three protected areas (Sooretama Biological Reserve, Vale Nature Reserve and Rio Doce State Park; Texeira et al. 2014; Marques et al. 2018).

It occurs in tropical forest, mainly in the lowlands and foothills, although it occurs up to 1,450 m in Central America and it has been recorded at 1,650 m in Bolivia (Healy et al. 2020). It is likely to avoid disturbed habitat, preferring larger areas of intact primary forest (Lees et al. 2012; Herrera-Rosales et al. 2014), although it does occur in secondary forest (P. Salaman in litt. 2020). It feeds mainly on arthropods, including spiders, centipedes and insects (Buainain and Forcato 2016).

The primary threat to this species is accelerating deforestation in the Amazon Basin as land is cleared for cattle ranching and soy production, facilitated by expansion of the road network (Soares-Filho et al. 2006; Bird et al. 2011). Remaining forest within its range is also being degraded through selective logging. This species is strongly susceptible to degradation and fragmentation due to its reliance on primary forest (A. Lees in litt. 2011; Moura et al. 2014).
It may also be vulnerable to occasional hunting in parts of its range, and it may dependent on mammals that are targeted by hunters (A. Lees in litt. 2011).

Conservation and research actions underway
It is listed as nationally Near Threatened in Ecuador (Freile et al. 2018) and Vulnerable in Brazil (ICMBio 2018). Taxon squamiger is considered a full species and listed as Vulnerable in Brazil (MMA 2014). It is found in many protected areas throughout its extensive range. Its habitat is well protected in around ten sites in Costa Rica and in almost a dozen sites in Panama (P. Salaman in litt. 2020). The species is included in the National Action Plans for the Birds of the Caatinga (ICMBio 2015), the Atlantic Forest (ICMBio 2017) and Amazonia (ICMBio 2014), which include actions to reduce the loss and degradation of habitat for target species.

Conservation and research actions proposed
Study its ecological requirements and its response to forest loss and degradation. Survey potentially suitable habitat across its range to gain a better understanding of its remaining range and population size.
Expand the protected area network to effectively protect IBAs. Effectively resource and manage existing and new protected areas. Conservation on private lands, through expanding market pressures for sound land management and preventing forest clearance on lands unsuitable for agriculture, is also essential (Soares-Filho et al. 2006).

Text account compilers
Wheatley, H.

Contributors
Ashpole, J, Benstead, P., Capper, D., Cohn-Haft, M., Lees, A., Salaman, P., Sharpe, C.J., Symes, A., Taylor, J. & Teixeira, F.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Rufous-vented Ground-cuckoo Neomorphus geoffroyi. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/rufous-vented-ground-cuckoo-neomorphus-geoffroyi 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.