Alagoas foliage-gleaner

The Alagoas foliage-gleaner was first collected in 1979 at Murici in Alagoas and was formally described in 1983. Based on its morphology and observed behavior it was placed in genus Philydor. It and the very similar black-capped foliage-gleaner (P. atricapillus) are treated as a superspecies. The Alagoas foliage-gleaner's specific epithet commemorates the Brazilian ornithologist Fernando da Costa Novaes. ==Observational history==

The Alagoas foliage-gleaner was discovered in 1979 in Murici, Alagoas. Between then and 2009 at least five further sightings came from that site; one was of four individuals and the others of one each. In 2003 up to four were seen at a second site, the private preserve RPPN Frei Caneca in Pernambuco, about north of Murici. There was one undocumented sighting at a private preserve adjoining Frei Caneca in 2004. Sightings, some accompanied by photographs and sound recordings, continued at Frei Caneca until 2011. The last documented sighting of the species was there on September 13, 2011, when the bird was video recorded. The last apparent sighting was also at Frei Caneca, in April 2012, but it was not documented. ==Description==

The Alagoas foliage-gleaner's dimensions and weights were recorded from three male and one female specimens, all adults. The four ranged from long. The males weighed and the female . The species' plumage was described from the specimens, photographs, and sight records. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a pale buff eyering and supercilium, a blackish-brown band behind the eye, dull buffy rufous lores, and pale buff ear coverts with a blackish-brown band below them. Their crown is dark brown with faint spots on the forehead and faint streaks in its center. Their back is dull rufous-brown, their rump slightly more rufous, and their uppertail coverts an even brighter rufous. Their tail is bright rufous. Their wings are dark rufous-brown with darker coverts and dark fuscous tips on the flight feathers. Their chin, throat, and most of their underparts are dull rufescent; their flanks are slightly duller and their undertail coverts more rufous. Their iris is brown, their maxilla blackish, their mandible ivory, and their legs and feet greenish horn. Juveniles are undescribed. ==Distribution and habitat==

The Alagoas foliage-gleaner is positively known only from Murici and Frei Caneca, with an undocumented sight record from a site adjacent to Frei Caneca. The habitat at these sites is somewhat hilly tropical evergreen forest and secondary forest. The forests are characterized by many vine tangles, bromeliads, mosses, and orchids. In elevation they range between . ==Behavior==

Movement As far as is known, the Alagoas foliage-gleaner was non-migratory. Breeding Almost nothing is known about the Alagoas foliage-gleaners breeding biology. An immature bird was collected in January. Vocalization The Alagoas foliage-gleaner's song is "a high-pitched rattle descending slightly in pitch and lasting 3–5 sec". "One call is described as a thürr, thoor, or theer, another as a descending uüarrr, uüarr ". ==Status==

The IUCN initially assessed the Alagoas foliage-gleaner in 1988 as Threatened. In 1994 it was uplisted to Critically Endangered. The two sites where the species was known are small fragments of the formerly extensive Atlantic Forest, which has been almost totally cleared for timber, charcoal, grazing, and sugar cane production. What is left is threatened by illegal clearing, fire, and the warming effects of climate change. ==References==