Vilcabamba Tapaculo (Scytalopus urubambae) - BirdLife species factsheet

Vilcabamba Tapaculo Scytalopus urubambae

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

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.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2007	Least Concern
2006	Not Evaluated
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Species attributes

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

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	10,000 km²	medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	6,400 km²
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2500-9999 mature individuals	poor	suspected	2021
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	2.94 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as fairly common to common (del Hoyo et al. 2003, Schulenberg 2020).
Based on its small range, covering an area of approximately 3,000 km², the population is tentatively placed in the band 2,500-9,999 mature individuals.

Trend justification: Habitat loss is negligible within its remote range (per Global Forest Watch 2021, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein), and in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats the population is suspected to be stable.

Country/territory distribution

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

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Moist	suitable	resident
Altitude	3500 - 4200 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threats & impact

Threat (level 1)

Threat (level 2)

Impact and Stresses

Biological resource use

Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Minority (<50%)

Negligible declines

Low Impact: 4

Stresses
Ecosystem degradation

Natural system modifications

Fire & fire suppression - Increase in fire frequency/intensity