Stresemann's bristlefront (''Merulaxis stresemanni'') is a critically endangered species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family Rhinocryptidae, the tapaculos. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Taxonomy and systematics

Stresemann's bristlefront and the slaty bristlefront (''Merulaxis ater'') form a superspecies, and the two might actually be one species. It has no subspecies. It is known only from three specimens and a few photographs, audio recordings, and sight records.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 19 January 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved January 19, 2021Krabbe, N., T. S. Schulenberg, and C. J. Sharpe (2020). Stresemann's Bristlefront (''Merulaxis stresemanni''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.strbri1.01 retrieved July 13, 2021

Description

Stresemann's bristlefront is a medium-sized, long-tailed bird with distinctive forehead bristles. It measures long. The male is all slaty gray with a dark rufous-chestnut rump, uppertail-coverts, and vent. The namesake features are long, pointed bristles on the forehead. The female is cinnamon-brown above, with a duskier tail, and is bright cinnamon below.

Distribution and habitat

Stresemann's bristlefront's natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, and the Mata do Passarinho Reserve is the last known area to house Stresemann's bristlefront. The

Atlantic forest The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and th ...

reserve is in the states of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

and

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

and contains

primary forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

as well as

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

, and is an island of forest surrounded by farmland.

Behavior

Feeding

A Stresemann's bristlefront was observered "foraging on the ground and on fallen tree trunks in an area of drier forest between two humid valleys". It has been seen to feed on insects.

Breeding

The first known Stresemann's bristlefront nest site was a tunnel estimated to be long. The nest itself was not described.

Vocalization

The Stresemann's bristlefront song starts with clicks followed by a trill. It is similar to that of the closely related slaty bristlefront but lower pitched. It readily responds to playback.

Status

The Stressemann's bristlefront is one of the rarest birds on earth. The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed it as Critically Endangered. An extensive search was performed in 2019, and the species was last seen in a tiny forest remnant, now set aside as the Mata do Passarinho Reserve. The IUCN believes that fewer than 50 mature individuals survive. "The species' known range is tiny ()...and the little remaining forest is disappearing rapidly; although this species is legally protected, there seems little hope for its survival."

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1272488 Stresemann's bristlefront Birds of the Atlantic Forest Endemic birds of Brazil Critically endangered animals Critically endangered biota of South America Stresemann's bristlefront Stresemann's bristlefront Taxonomy articles created by Polbot