Iquitos Gnatcatcher

The Iquitos Gnatcatcher ( Polioptila clementsi ) is a rare, little -studied songbird of the family Gnatcatcher. The species was described in 2005 and is named after the American ornithologist James F. Clements. It is native to Peru. Its closest relative is the Cayenne Gnatcatcher ( Polioptila guianensis ), which occurs in Guyana.

Description

The Iquitos Gnatcatcher reaches a length of 12 centimeters. It is light gray with a thin black beak. The iris is black and surrounded by an eye-catching broken white eye-ring. The legs are black. Throat and breast are uniformly gray. Abdomen, under tail and under tail-coverts are whitish. The tail has white edges. The males differ from the males of most other Gnatcatcher species by the lack of black coloration on the crown.

Habitat

The Iquitos Gnatcatcher is endemic in a 19 -acre woodland which is designated due to its soil as a " forest of white sand " ( white- sand rainforest ). It inhabits different tree layers 15 to 30 meters.

Status

So far, 15 pairs in the Reserva Nacional were Allpahuayo - Mishana detected 25 km west of Iquitos in the department of Loreto, Peru. BirdLife International estimates the total number to 50 to 250 copies. As the main threat illegal forest clearance within the reserve for charcoal, firewood and timber extraction and agricultural use around Iquitos apply. In order to make the population aware of the threat the way the student group organized CANATURA (Club Amigos de la Naturaleza ) in November 2006, a festival in Iquitos, on the Iquitos Gnatcatcher has been named the official bird of the city.

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