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Monitoring of Amazona rhodocorytha (Psittacidae) reveals new population of Handroanthus riodocensis (Bignoniaceae) in the Rio Doce basin, Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2025

Ricardo da Silva Ribeiro Open the ORCID record for Ricardo da Silva Ribeiro [Opens in a new window] ,
Victoria Carolina Costa Faria Open the ORCID record for Victoria Carolina Costa Faria [Opens in a new window]  and
Flávia Guimarães Chaves Open the ORCID record for Flávia Guimarães Chaves [Opens in a new window]
Ricardo da Silva Ribeiro*
Affiliation:
Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Instituto Interamericano de Cooperação para a Agricultura, Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil
Victoria Carolina Costa Faria
Affiliation:
Independent researcher, Serra, Espírito Santo, Brazil
Flávia Guimarães Chaves
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional da Mata Atlântica, Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo, Brazil
*
(rdsribeiro@outlook.com)
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Type
Conservation News
Information
Oryx , First View , pp. 1
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NC
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original article is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained prior to any commercial use.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International

Amazona rhodocorytha (chauá), a bird endemic to the Atlantic Forest, is categorized as Vulnerable on both the IUCN and Brazilian Fauna Red Lists. The main threats to its survival are forest fragmentation and degradation, and the collection of eggs and chicks for the illegal trade.

Recently, monitoring of A. rhodocorytha led to the discovery of new populations of Handroanthus riodocensis (ipê-amarelo), a tree endemic to the Atlantic Forest that was first described in 1992 and is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN and Brazilian Flora Red Lists, and as Critically Endangered in the state of Espírito Santo. Its showy, abundant yellow flowers are an important food source for birds; the nectar is consumed by hummingbirds and the petals are eaten by psittacids.

We located eight H. riodocensis in September 2025 in Linhares, Espírito Santo, near the ES-440 highway: six in forest remnants, one in pasture and one in a cacao Theobroma cacao monoculture. Individuals were 6–35 m tall, with circumference at breast height of 20–70 cm; all were in flower. These trees stand out in the canopy, and provide both food and resting sites for A. rhodocorytha.

These new records indicate that H. riodocensis plays an important role in the diet of A. rhodocorytha in early spring, a period that coincides with the avian breeding season in the Rio Doce basin. This region has suffered severe anthropogenic impacts, including contamination of waterbodies, soil and riparian forest by mine tailings as a result of the collapse of the Fundão dam in 2015. These impacts are long-lasting and directly threaten the biodiversity of this region (Batista et al., Oryx, published 11 August 2025, doi.org/10.1017/S0030605325000456).

Our findings, besides expanding knowledge of the extent of occurrence of H. riodocensis, highlight the additional importance of conserving this species as a resource for A. rhodocorytha. We recommend joint monitoring of these two threatened species so that integrated and effective conservation strategies can be devised.

Amazona rhodocorytha foraging on Handroanthus riodocensis in Linhares municipality, Espírito Santo state, Brazil.