Abstract
Veracruz, MexicoA cool fresh mist coated the mountainside as we hiked up the narrow cobblestone path. Giant tree fems towered over the trail. In the distance the snow covered mountain peak "Orizaba" was framed with cottonballlike clouds. Rounding a bend in the trail our local guide Pedro Mota produced a long sustained single note whistle. Our group, previously talking, became silent. Pedro repeated the whistle. In the distance a response came sounding like a cross between a dog barking and a Guineahen scream. The chorus began then stopped as abruptly as it began. We had just heard the "chorus call" of the Bearded Woodpartridge Dendrortyx barbatus.
Similar to other Mexican birds that inhabit remote places, the woodpartridge's status and distribution greatly reflects the history of ornithological investigation in Mexico. Some of the first (and last specimens) of this species were collected along the lower slopes of Cofre de Perote, Veracruz in 1893. The bird then seemed to have disappeared from science until 1947. During the period of 1940-1970s, ornithological expeditions within the wood-partridge's range reported that the bird could only be found to inhabited cloud forest. With the rapid clearing of cloud forests the Bearded Woodpartridge was considered at "risk" therefore was included in the 1992 ICBP/IUCN publication Threatened Birds of the Americas.
Unfortunately listing a species as "endangered" does not guarantee action. The next document however played a greater role in the species recovery. Hundreds of birds are included in one list or another but priority action is seldom taken until the species is included in one of the IUCN Action Plans. In 1995 the "Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan for Partridge, Quails, Francolins Snowcocks and Guinea fowl" was published. In order to draft the plan a group of experts gathered for a conservation Assessment Workshop. During the workshop they use the Mace-Lande threat categories to prioritize what actions should be taken with the endangered members of this group of birds.
Of course Mace-Lande categories are based upon population theory (considering; probability of extinction, effective population, sub populations, population decline, impact of catastrophe, habitat change, and impact of commercial exploitation or introduction of exotic taxa) so they are only as reliable as the data being used to draw the conclusions. When it came to the Bearded Woodpartridge the Mace-Lande Conservation status was "critical," the highest level of priority for action. What soon followed would change forever the way we think about this 13.5 inch rich brown and cinnamon forest quail, with a pale gray throat.
As newly appointed Mexico and Central American coordinator for the World Pheasant Association I Birdlife I Species Survival Commission (IUCN) Partridge, Quail and Francolin Specialist Group, I had two...