Lone female of critically endangered bird sighted

A lone female of one of the world’s rarest birds was sighted recently in a Brazil forest reserve. Stresemann’s bristlefront (Merulaxis stresemanni) is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and only one other individual bird has been since December 2018. That individual was likely the same female. These birds live in the Songbird Reserve in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, one of the most threatened biomes in the world, and much about their ecology is still unknown. Alexander Zaidan and Luíz Alberto Santos of Fundação Biodiversitas observed the bird on Oct. 2 singing in an attempt to attract others of its kind, according to a press release from the American Bird Conservancy. “We will continue to support searches, and meanwhile, will do all we can to protect the remaining habitat for the species. It’s possible that other bristlefronts could be just out of sight,” said Amy Upgren, Alliance for Zero Extinction Program Officer at ABC.

Read more at American Bird Conservancy.