Beyond Red Siskins: Rediscovery of the long lost Táchira Antpitta

An RSI-led field team recently rediscovered the Tachira antpitta (Grallaria chthonia) in the Venezuelan Andes. It was last seen when first described in 1956 by William Phelps Jr. and Smithsonian Secretary Wetmore. The expedition team, which included leader Jhonathan Miranda (RSI and Provita), Alejandro Nagy (RSI and Provita), Peter Bichier(University of California Santa Cruz), and Miguel Lentino and Miguel Matta (Colección Ornitólogica Phelps, COP) was supported by the William Belton Conservation Fund as part of the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) Search for Lost Birds program.

This discovery presents an opportunity for conservation of this species and the habitat it uses, and represents the expanding scope of RSI conservation in the region. Read more about this exciting news at the following links: ABC, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.