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

Justification of Red List category

This species is suspected to be declining rapidly as a result of ongoing deforestation within its range. For this reason, it is listed as Vulnerable.

Population justification
It is relatively common in Amazônia (Tapajós) National Park, but scarce around Santarém, Pará (Sick 1993, del Hoyo 1994, Strahl et al. 1994). The population size has not been estimated. Surveys in 2001 at an undisturbed forest site in the upper Maro river estimated the population density of Penelope spp. (including P. pileata and P. superciliaris) at 5.2 individuals/km² (Peres et al. 2003). Surveys in the A’Ukre indigenous forest reserve in southeast Amazonia produced a density estimate of 22.3 individuals/km² for Penelope spp. (P. pileata and P. superciliaris) in unhunted forest, and 14.2 individuals/km² in hunted forest (Peres and Nascimento 2006).

Trend justification
Remote-sensed data on forest loss indicates that from 2001-2019, approximately 19% of tree cover with at least 50% canopy cover was lost within the species's range (Global Forest Watch 2020). Extrapolated over three generation lengths (21.57 years), approximately 21% of tree cover is estimated to have been lost within the species's range over the past three generations. Assuming that population size is directly related to the area of tree cover, the population size may have undergone a reduction of 21% over the past three generations. An analysis of the impact of disturbance on forest species in Pará found that in private lands or sustainable-use reserves, the impact of disturbance on biodiversity was equivalent to that of an additional 51% loss of forest (Barlow et al. 2016), which suggests that a population reduction of up to 33% may have been caused by deforestation and disturbance over the past three generations, although the species is found in secondary forests (Oren 2006) and so it may have some tolerance of forest degradation. Furthermore, the species is also threatened by hunting, which may be assumed to have contributed to an additional 5% reduction over three generations. Therefore, a population reduction of 21-38% is suspected to have occurred over the past three generations. Given that the species is likely to show some tolerance of forest degradation, the best estimate of the reduction is likely to be towards the lower end of this range, here placed in the band 21-29%.

During 2016-2019, approximately 7% of tree cover with at least 50% canopy cover was lost within the species's range (Global Forest Watch 2020). Extrapolating this rate into the future, 37% of tree cover may be lost from the species's range over three generations (21.57 years) from 2016, and 40% over three generations from 2020. Adding an additional 51% to account for the potential effect of disturbance, plus the 5% reduction that may be caused by hunting, a reduction of up to 61% is suspected to occur over three generations from 2016, and 65% over three generations from 2020. Therefore, a population reduction of 37-61% is suspected to occur over the three generations from 2016, and a reduction of 40-65% is suspected to occur over three generations from 2020. Given that the species is likely to show some tolerance of forest degradation, the best estimates of the reduction are likely to be towards the lower end of these ranges, here placed in the band 37-49% and 40-49% respectively.

Penelope pileata occurs exclusively in dense lowland humid forest south of the river Amazon, from lower rio Madeira, east to Pará (Ourém and Serra dos Carajas), Maranhão (rio Grajaú, and the Mearim-Pindare river system), and Tocantins (Buzzetti 2004, Kirwan et al. 2015) in north-central Brazil (Sick 1993, Roth 1997, J. F. Pacheco in litt. 1999, F. Olmos in litt. 1999).

It occurs in lowland moist forest. It has been recorded in primary forest, relatively tall secondary forest, and in selectively logged forest (Oren 2006). It appears to prefer relatively dense terra firme forest, although it has been recorded in seasonally flooded gallery forest, and has been reported to range into wooded cerrado (del Hoyo and Kirwan 2020). It is mostly arboreal, but sometimes forages on the ground (Oren 2006).

Forest destruction has been fairly widespread, especially in Maranhão and Pará (Cleary 1991, Strahl et al. 1994, F. Olmos in litt. 1999), largely as a result of conversion to pasture for cattle ranching, and clearance for soy production, facilitated by expansion of the road network (Soares-Filho et al. 2006, Bird et al. 2011). 
There are additional pressures from hunting for food and its status as a prized aviary bird (Delacour and Amadon 1973, Sick 1993, Stattersfield et al. 1998). Deforestation and habitat fragmentation is likely to exacerbate the impact of hunting, since it facilitates access by hunters and reduced the species's ability to recolonise areas (Peres 2001). A study of hunting pressure at several sites in the Amazon region, some of which were within the species's range, found that Penelope species were hunted at an average rate of 47% (+/- 60%) of the maximum sustainable yield, with higher proportions of the maximum sustainable yield being taken in smaller fragments of forest (Peres 2001). The study estimated that a forest fragment with an area of at least 125 km² (+/- 31 km²) would be required to support a viable population under this level of hunting pressure (Peres 2001). Surveys in 2001 found a marked decline in Penelope spp. (including P. pileata and P. superciliaris) in hunted forest in comparison with unhunted forest (Peres et al. 2003). Surveys in the A’Ukre indigenous forest reserve in southeast Amazonia produced a density estimate of 22.3 individuals/km² for Penelope spp. (P. pileata and P. superciliaris) in unhunted forest, and 14.2 individuals/km² in hunted forest, representing a 36% reduction, however, the level of hunting was estimated to be sustainable (Peres and Nascimento 2006).
Escaped agricultural fires pose an additional threat. Surveys in 2000-2002 in forest that had recently been subject to a large fire event found that the species's abundance declined by over 50% following the fire, although this estimate was based on a small number of detections (Barlow and Peres 2006).

Conservation Actions Underway
It occurs in Amazônia (Tapajós) National Park and the Gurupi Biological Reserve.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Monitor population trends at known sites. Research the species's population size and ecology.

Organise campaigns to raise awareness and reduce hunting and trapping for trade. Effectively protect Amazônia (Tapajós) National Park and designate further protected areas within its lowland forest range. Enforce legislation to prevent deforestation, disturbance and forest degradation within its range.

Text account compilers
Wheatley, H.

Contributors
Pacheco, J.F., Olmos, F., Sharpe, C.J. & Symes, A.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: White-crested Guan Penelope pileata. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/white-crested-guan-penelope-pileata 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.