Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This recently-split species qualifies as Critically Endangered because it appears to be confined to a single, tiny population which is declining very rapidly owing to hunting and habitat destruction.
Population justification
A potential population of up to 400 individuals was estimated based on the assumption that the species might eventually be found throughout the Cerros del Sira at appropriate altitudes (Gastañaga in litt. 2007, Gastañaga et al. 2011). Local knowledge surveys and field visits since then suggest this is unlikely, so a population estimate well below 250 mature individuals seems appropriate (R. MacLeod and M. Gastañaga in litt. 2014).
Trend justification
Given the susceptibility of the species to hunting, it is suspected to be declining by ?50% over three generations.
Pauxi koepckeae is restricted to the Cerros del Sira in Huánuco, central Peru. Previously considered a subspecies of P. unicornis, this taxon had gone unrecorded since its description in 1969, but its continued presence was established by local knowledge surveys in 2003 and observations in 2005 (Gastañaga 2006). Surveys in 2006 and 2008 found the species at four locations, all located within 30 km of each other in the Cerros del Sira (Gastañaga et al. 2011). A density of 8.3 singing males per square kilometer was calculated, suspected to reflect an exploded lek of the species rather than the typical density throughout the suitable habitat given the very low encounter rates in all other surveys (Gastañaga et al. 2011). An estimate of less than one individual per square kilometer was considered to be the likely density within the identified range (Gastañaga et al. 2011). This is consistent with previous field surveys' very low encounter rate, and local reports suggest that it is very rare here (Mee et al. 2002, A. MacCormick in litt. 2004, R. MacLeod in litt. 2004). An expedition to the Cerros del Sira in 2010 recorded up to four individuals (Socolar et al. 2012), and a further expedition in 2015 made 19 independent detections of the species with camera traps, resulting in an overall occupancy estimate of 25% across the study transect and 55% across the current known elevational range (Bierne et al. 2017). The total population for the species is estimated to be less than 400 individuals (Gastañaga in litt. 2007), with evidence that its numbers are declining (Gastañaga and Hennessey 2005).
Pauxi koepckeae inhabits cloud forest at altitudes of around 1,100-1,450 m and above, although in the dry season individuals have also occasionally been found somewhat lower (down to 950 m) along the upper edge of adjacent montane forest. Its diet consists of fruit, seeds, soft plants, larvae and insects. Display songs seem to peak in February and March (R. MacLeod in litt. 2007, Gastañaga et al. 2011). In common with other cracids, the species is likely to have a low reproductive rate (Cox et al 1997, Renjifo 1997, Banks 1998). Breeding males may engage in an 'exploded lek' display system during the peak of breeding season calling, possibly gathering in ridge top forest away from the noise interference of watercourses in the valleys below (Gastañaga et al. 2011). However, this system has not been adequately shown for congeneric taxa, and the species may simply be patchily distributed within the ecologically diverse landscape they inhabit (del Hoyo and Motis 2004).
Continuing hunting by local communities is the single greatest threat to the species and is likely to be having a serious negative impact (Gastañaga 2006, Gastañaga et al. 2011). It was rediscovered due to reports from hunters, and there are reliable reports of a hunter trying to sell the species to local restaurants as bush meat in 2008 (R. MacLeod and M. Gastañaga in litt. 2014). Although the species is legally protected, there is no concerted effort to educate the local population as to the global importance of the species and no formal infrastructure in place to establish protection (Gastañaga et al. 2011). Road-building and associated rural development have a negative impact and inhibit dispersal (Herzog and Kessler 1998, Fjeldså in litt. 1999). Subsistence agriculture threatens its habitat (R. MacLeod in litt. 2000), as does opening up the foothills to colonisation and hunting. New gold mining developments and conversion of patches of forest to pasture have been recently recorded in and around the El Sira Communal Reserve (Novoa et al. 2016). Oil exploration and illegal logging are potential future threats in El Sira, as well as forest clearance by colonists.
Conservation and research actions underway
The species' range is theoretically protected by the El Sira Communal Reserve, although hunting still takes place here (Gastañaga and Hennessey 2005, Gastañaga in litt. 2007, Graham 2009). Extensive surveys have been conducted in recent years but have met with little success in locating the species in many areas (Mee et al. 2002, R. MacLeod in litt. 2003, Hennessey 2004, A. Maccormack in litt. 2004, R. MacLeod in litt. 2004). An education project to combat hunting and raise awareness was carried out in the Sira mountains in 2005 (Gastañaga 2005).
85-95 cm. Large, black cracid with long frontal casque. All-black, with white vent and tip to tail. Bright red bill and pale blue casque which is flattened against the head, and both shorter and rounder than in P. unicornis. P. koepckeae also has only a thin white tip to the tail. The legs are normally pale red but yellowish in the male in the breeding season. Female like male, but also has a rufous colour phase. Voice Song is a deep booming phrase of 3 to 4 notes repeated every 4 seconds, with the first note loudest. Alarm call is an explosive disyllabic k-sop. Hints Best located when booming during the main part of the breeding season (February/March).
Text account compilers
Taylor, J., Wheatley, H., Sharpe, C.J., Benstead, P., Symes, A., Keane, A., Martin, R.
Contributors
Fjeldså, J., Gastañaga, M., Hennessey, A.B., Lloyd, H., MacLeod, R. & Maccormack, A.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Sira Curassow Pauxi koepckeae. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/sira-curassow-pauxi-koepckeae on 21/12/2024.
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 21/12/2024.