Sclater , 1856 ) : New country records , natural history notes , and occurrence in northwest Ecuador

Only old records of the Indigo Flowerpiercer Diglossa indigotica are known from Pichincha province, Ecuador. Here we report 26 sight records of this rare species at a new locality, the Bosque Protector Mashpi. These novel records confirm that the species is resident, and represent the first evidence of breeding in the country. The species seems to have a habitat preference for patches of short Ericaceous growth, but occurs locally in mossy cloud forest, typically found in low densities. Adults sang throughout the year, usually from canopy but also from inside short Ericaceous growth. The discovery of this site posses a great opportunity to further studies of this little known Choco endemic species. 1 Fundación Imaymana, Paltapamba 476 San Pedro del Valle. Nayón, Quito, Ecuador. 2 Natural History of Ecuador’s Mainland Avifauna Group, 721 Foch y Amazonas. Quito, Ecuador. 3 Neblina Forest Natural History and Birding Tours, South America, Isla Floreana e8-129. Quito, Ecuador. 4 Camino de Orellana 161, Guápulo, Quito, Ecuador. * Corresponding author. E-mail: jhalezion@gmail.com Alejandro Solano-Ugalde 1,2,3* and Dušan M. Brinkhuizen 4 Aves, Thraupidae, Indigo Flowerpiercer Diglossa indigotica (Sclater, 1856): New country records, natural history notes, and occurrence in northwest Ecuador The Indigo Flowerpiercer Diglossa indigotica (Sclater, 1856) is found locally along the Pacific slope of the Andes from Central Colombia south to Northwest Ecuador. Its altitudinal range is reported from 700 to 2200 m (Hilty and Brown 1986), but it is mostly found along a narrow belt from 1000 to 1600 m (Ridgely and Tudor 2009). The species is endemic to the Chocó bioregion with a restricted range within the Chocó Endemic Bird Area (hereafter EBA) (Stattersfield et al. 1998). Globally, the species is not considered at risk as it has been evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (BirdLife International 2010). In Ecuador, D. indigotica is considered very rare to rare, but locally common in canopy and borders of subtropical forests, especially in very wet forests with high loads of moss and epiphytic growth (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001; 2006). There are very few records of this species in Ecuador, with the most recent being from the far northwest region of the country, in the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001; Jahn and Mena Valenzuela 2006 ). Old records in the mid-1800s and early 1900s are known from the province of Pichincha near Nanegal and Canzacota (Chapman 1926). A sighting of a single bird at Buenaventura in the province of El Oro in southern Ecuador requires further confirmation (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001; 2006). Given the paucity of records, it was evaluated at a national scale as Vulnerable (Granizo 2002). Here we provide new records of D. indigotica in the province of Pichincha with notes on its natural history and occurrence. Observations were made opportunistically at the edge of Bosque Protector Mashpi (hereafter Mashpi) in lower subtropical forest along the La Delicia-Guayabillas road (ca.1400 m above sea level, 00°09’15” N, 78°50’21” W), parroquia Pacto, Pichincha province, Ecuador. We obtained a total of 26 sight records (Table 1), collected from December 2008 to May 2011 while conducting bird surveys and leading birding groups to the area. The species was first recorded on 03 December 2008 by AS-U who observed one individual along La DeliciaGuayabillas road near the entrance road to Mashpi at ca. 6 km west of La Delicia village. The observation time lasted for near 5 min, and the bird was seen taking a berry from a Disterigma sp. (Ericaceae) epiphyte growing in the mid-story of cloud forest, while loosely associated with a flocking group of Dusky Bush-Tanagers Chlorospingus semifuscus (Sclater and Salvin, 1873) and a pair of the Three-striped Warbler Basileuterus tristriatus (Tschudi, 1844). After the discovery of the species at this locality we have made a series of subsequent observations during different months throughout the years of 2008 to 2011, confirming the species’ residence in the area (see Table 1 for a summary of all records). Figure 1. Juvenile Diglossa indigotica, with subdue coloration and graybrown iris at Mashpi forest, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Photo by Dušan M. Brinkhuizen.

The Indigo Flowerpiercer Diglossa indigotica (Sclater, 1856) is found locally along the Pacific slope of the Andes from Central Colombia south to Northwest Ecuador.Its altitudinal range is reported from 700 to 2200 m (Hilty and Brown 1986), but it is mostly found along a narrow belt from 1000 to 1600 m (Ridgely and Tudor 2009).The species is endemic to the Chocó bioregion with a restricted range within the Chocó Endemic Bird Area (hereafter EBA) (Stattersfield et al. 1998).
Globally, the species is not considered at risk as it has been evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (BirdLife International 2010).In Ecuador, D. indigotica is considered very rare to rare, but locally common in canopy and borders of subtropical forests, especially in very wet forests with high loads of moss and epiphytic growth (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001;2006).
There are very few records of this species in Ecuador, with the most recent being from the far northwest region of the country, in the provinces of Carchi and Esmeraldas (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001;Jahn and Mena Valenzuela 2006 ).Old records in the mid-1800s and early 1900s are known from the province of Pichincha near Nanegal and Canzacota (Chapman 1926).A sighting of a single bird at Buenaventura in the province of El Oro in southern Ecuador requires further confirmation (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001;2006).Given the paucity of records, it was evaluated at a national scale as Vulnerable (Granizo 2002).Here we provide new records of D. indigotica in the province of Pichincha with notes on its natural history and occurrence.
Observations were made opportunistically at the edge of Bosque Protector Mashpi (hereafter Mashpi) in lower subtropical forest along the La Delicia-Guayabillas road (ca.1400 m above sea level, 00°09'15" N, 78°50'21" W), parroquia Pacto, Pichincha province, Ecuador.We obtained a total of 26 sight records (Table 1), collected from December 2008 to May 2011 while conducting bird surveys and leading birding groups to the area.
The species was first recorded on 03 December 2008 by AS-U who observed one individual along La Delicia-Guayabillas road near the entrance road to Mashpi at ca. 6 km west of La Delicia village.The observation time lasted for near 5 min, and the bird was seen taking a berry from a Disterigma sp.(Ericaceae) epiphyte growing in the mid-story of cloud forest, while loosely associated with a flocking group of Dusky Bush-Tanagers Chlorospingus semifuscus (Sclater and Salvin, 1873) and a pair of the Three-striped Warbler Basileuterus tristriatus (Tschudi, 1844).After the discovery of the species at this locality we have made a series of subsequent observations during different months throughout the years of 2008 to 2011, confirming the species' residence in the area (see Table 1 for a summary of all records).Noteworthy observations regarding the natural history of the species include: (1) on 26 July 2009 an immature bird was seen and photographed (Figure 1).Its plumage showed rather dull, being grayish rather than deep blue on breast and flanks, and showing brownish irises instead of bright red ones like in adults (Hilty and Brown 1986; Ridgely and Greenfield 2001), (2) on 23 December 2009 an adult bird was observed carrying nesting material (green colored moss) in dense short Ericaceous growth and (3) on 21 February 2011 an adult was seen carrying an insect larvae in its beak (Figure 2).The latter moved steadily through the short-growth with the food item and disappeared out of view into dense vegetation.
Additionally, on 06 March 2011, a pair of adults was seen at a presumed nest site.The birds were moving low above the ground inside a very dense bush for ca. 10 min.The bush was located on a steep hillside surrounded by short Ericaceous growth.Giving the nature of the area a nest could not be detected.To our knowledge these observations represent the first evidence of breeding for the species in Ecuador (Ridgely and Tudor 2009;Greeney et al. 2010).Apart from nest building reported in June in the upper Anchicayá valley, Colombia, very little is known regarding the breeding biology of this species (Hilty and Brown 1986).
Singing birds, presumably only males, were recorded a number of times throughout the year (see Table 1).Song was usually carried out from the canopy of taller forest near short Ericaceous growth and often lasted for prolonged periods of time.One individual was seen using the same song post in a tree top (> 12 m) on several visits.Song was also recorded from individuals perched in shortgrowth but usually did not extended for long.Birds moving through short-growth habitat typically produced very fine, high pitched contact calls.In terms of habitat use, the bulk of our observations show that D. indigotica seems to be noticeably associated with short Ericaceous growth found on steep hillsides where natural or man-made landslides have occurred.Additional observations done by AS-U at Alto Galápagos, Department of Chocó, Colombia (1900 m, 04°49' N, 76°12' W) in May 2009 and March 2010 support this finding.At the latter site, individuals of D. indigotica were commonly seen robbing nectar from flowering plants in this high species-rich habitat.Based on our observations herein summarized, the species appears to occur locally at low densities, with groups having three or less birds.
The species was not known to occur in any of Ecuadors' governmental protected areas (Granizo 2002).However, it was recently found in parts of the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve (Jahn and Mena-Valenzuela 2006).The

Table 1 .
New records of Diglossa indigotica in Ecuador, with information on date, locality, habitat, number and age of individuals, observers, and additional notes.