Buff-throated Purpletuft Iodopleura pipra Scientific name definitions

The rare and, until recently, little-known Buff-throated Purpletuft is restricted to low- and mid-elevation Atlantic Forest, in eastern Brazil. Two subspecies are recognized, with apparently disjunct ranges, one in the far northeast of Brazil, and the other in the southeast, but the purported differences between them do not always seem constant, and it is presently unclear if contact in fact exists, probably in the state of Bahia. If seen well, there is little likelihood of confusing this bird, it being even smaller than other purpletufts and records of the superficially similar Swallow-winged Puffbird (Chelidoptera tenebrosa) at the same sites are nearly all purely historical, except in Bahia. Modern-day fieldwork has expanded its range somewhat, resulting in the Buff-throated Purpletuft being recently downgraded from Endangered to Near Threatened by BirdLife International.

9·5 cm; 10 g. Small cotingid  with relatively long hirundinid-like wings, short tail extending only 5–10 mm beyond tail-coverts, wide bill slightly expanded at base, hooked at tip. Male nominate race is grey above, darker on crown, sometimes some white on rump; wings and tail duskier; cinnamon-buff on throat, chest and undertail-coverts, grey side of breast, rest of underparts white with grey barring, small tuft  of violet feathers  on upper flank; iris dark brown; upper mandible black, lower mandible lead-grey; legs dark lead-grey. Female  lacks violet tuft on flank. Juvenile has conspicuous white feather tips. Race leucopygia  has white rump­band more developed, also purer (less greyish) and more extensive buff area on throat than nominate.

Two subspecies recognized.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Mainly mistletoe berries  (Loranthaceae), some other fruits; also small insects. Forages mainly high in trees, especially large fine-leaved leguminous trees often holding mistletoe clumps. Picks insects off vegetation or catches them in air.

High-pitched  , faint “se-se-see” , in flight sometimes repeated so rapidly as to become a short orthopteran-like trill; also a double whistle, “seee, fee”.

Recorded in Jul–Oct  ; two records of laying in Jul, in austral winter (unusual, but supported by records of moult beginning Aug–Sept); singing male in Dec in Espírito Santo. Nest  a tiny cup, felted and whitish with darker blotches (probably of lichens), saddled on small peripheral twig c. 18 m above ground on high branch of leafless tree. Clutch 1 egg; incubation and fledging periods not known.

ENDANGERED. Restricted-range species: present in Atlantic Slope of Alagoas and Pernambuco EBA and Atlantic Forest Lowlands EBA. Rare and local, and range highly fragmented. Recorded from only few sites. Only in recent years found to be surviving in some areas in SE Brazil, and small population discovered in NE Brazil; existence of N race leucopygia was for long obscured by mislabelling of the two specimens on which it was based as having originated from Guyana. Global population estimate was revised downwards in 2014, and now thought to number 250–2500 mature individuals with fewer than 250 in each subpopulation BirdLife International (2016) Species factsheet: Iodopleura pipra. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 03/05/2017. . Future survival of both races threatened by extensive destruction of lowland Atlantic Forest; the fact that it occurs in mainly lowland coastal forest renders it even more at risk than was previously thought, as this habitat is being cleared at a rapid rate. May undertake altitudinal migration or local movements, which require further investigation in order to better plan conservation measures (1 Whittaker, A. and Kirwan, G.M. (2008). Natural history data for the canopy-dwelling purpletufts Iodopleura (Cotingidae), and first documentation of Dusky Purpletuft I. fusca for Brazil. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 128(1): 28–35. Close ). Occurs in Serra dos Órgãos National Park and Desengano and Serra do Mar State Parks; also in Ubatuba Experimental Station (São Paulo). Ongoing deforestation in extreme NE of range (2 Kirwan, G. M., and G. Green (2011). Cotingas and Manakins. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); protection of forest at Murici (Alagoas) would greatly benefit this and other globally threatened species, e.g. Carpornis melanocephala. Has been assigned a variety of threat categories; previously considered Near Threatened or Vulnerable. Since 2016 it has been assessed as globally Endangered once again, a status maintained at the national level in Brazil (3 MMA (2014). Lista Nacional Oficial de Espécies da Fauna Ameaçadas de Extinção. Portaria No 444, de 17 de dezembro de 2014. Diário Oficial da União - Seção 1. Nº 245, quinta-feira, 18 de dezembro de 2014. Close ).