Yariguíes Slate-crowned Antpitta. Photo: Fundación ProAves

Another new bird has been discovered in Colombia next to the Cerulean Warbler Bird Reserve. The Yariguíes Slate-crowned Antpitta was discovered during explorations of the Yariguíes Mountains by American Bird Conservancy partner organization, Fundación ProAves. It is a subspecies of the Slate-crowned Antpitta, and has been given the scientific name Grallaricula nana hallsi, in honor of the British birder Alan G. Halls, who died in 2005 around time the discovery was made. The description was published as part of a substantial revision of the taxonomy of the Slate-crowned Antpitta. Another new subspecies, Grallaricula nana nanitaea, from Venezuela, which had gone overlooked until recently, was also described.

The Serrania de los Yariguíes went unstudied for decades due to their remoteness, and to political instability in the region. In recent years, however, the ProAves team has made several expeditions into the mountain range, discovering new bird and butterfly species and subspecies, including the Yariguíes Brush-Finch, as well as new populations of the Critically Endangered Gorgeted Wood-Quail.

In 1996, the area was declared a “Natural Reserve” by Colombia’s National Government. Then in 1998, it was denominated a “Strategic Environmental Area” by the Department of Santander, after nearby municipalities pushed for stronger protection because of the extremely high importance of the area as a water source. In 2005, following the surveys mentioned above, the Yariguíes Mountains were declared a National Park. Shortly after, ABC funded the establishment of the neighboring 1,300-acre Cerulean Warbler Bird Reserve, which is managed by ProAves, and protects vital habitat for wintering Cerulean Warblers and several threatened endemic bird species.

"This and other discoveries from our expeditions show the Yariguíes Mountains to be a previously unknown centre of endemism” commented Thomas Donegan of ProAves, who discovered and described the new antpitta. “It is important to conserve the region in order to protect unique populations such as this."

For more information on the discovery, including a list of groups who have supported the research in the Yariguíes Mountains, visit www.proaves.org/article.php?id_article=539.