Revision of the range of the Rio de Janeiro Antbird Cercomacra brasiliana Hellmayr, 1905 (Aves: Passeriformes: Thamnophilidae)

We present a review on the range of the endemic and near-threatened Rio de Janeiro Antbird Cercomacra brasiliana, based on new field records and extensive search in literature, museums and bird sound databases. Our records extend the species' known range over 200 km westwards to the hinterlands of Minas Gerais state. Nevertheless, no records were done within federal or state reserves, and the conservation of the remaining forest fragments where the species was recorded is urgent.

The Rio the Janeiro Antbird Cercomacra brasiliana Hellmayr, 1905 is a near-threatened Atlantic forest endemic (Brooks et al. 1999;Machado et al. 2005; BirdLife International 2012), known from a few localities within its restricted range (Ridgely and Tudor 1994;Ridgely et al. 2007;BirdLife International 2012). It is also considered a rare species with high conservation and research priorities (Stotz et al. 1996). The known range of the Rio de Janeiro Antbird encompasses a small area of southeastern Brazil, including the states of Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, eastern Minas Gerais and southeastern Bahia (Pacheco and Fonseca 1992;Ridgely and Tudor 1994;Sick 1997;Zimmer and Isler 2003;Ridgely et al. 2007). Little is known about its natural history, but it seems to be very patchily distributed, but locally common (Zimmer and Isler 2003;BirdLife International 2012).
The aim of this paper is to review the range of C. brasiliana, based on new field records and extensive search in literature, museums and bird sound databases. New field records were obtained during bird surveys conducted by the authors in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, between 2007 and 2011. Whenever possible, records were documented through photographs, voucher specimens or tape recordings. Vocalizations were recorded using Sony PCM-M10 and Sony TCM-5000EV tape-recorders and Sony ECM-674 and Sennheiser ME66 microphones. Copies of these recordings have been deposited in the Arquivo Sonoro Prof. Elias Coelho (ASEC), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and in the Xeno-Canto online database (XC -http:// www.xeno-canto.org). Collected specimens were deposited in the Museu de Ciências Naturais, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (MCNA). We also searched for recording localities of the species in the ASEC and Xeno-Canto collections and for specimens housed in the following institutions: Museu de Zoologia João Moojen de Oliveira (MZUFV), Minas Gerais, Brazil; Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro (MNRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Departamento de Zoologia da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (DZUFMG), Minas Gerais, Brazil; Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo (MZUSP) São Paulo, Brazil; American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), New York, United States, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History (LACMNH), Los Angeles, United States, and Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ), Massachusetts, United States. These three foreign institutions were searched online through Ornisnet (http://www.ornisnet. org). A brief description of our new recording localities, as well as geographic coordinates (datum WGS 84) and altitude can be found in the accounts below (numbers in parenthesis correspond to localities in Figure 1). A summary of all C. brasiliana records is presented in Table  1 and Figure 1. Taxonomic nomenclature follows Comitê Brasileiro de Registros Ornitológicos (CBRO 2011) and the classification of the forests was based upon Oliveira-Filho and Fontes (2000).
Passa-Vinte (1): Bird surveys were conducted by LGM and EJG in this municipality in three different dates: February, September and October 2009. The species was recorded only in one site, on 4 October 2009. One adult male was seen and tape-recorded in a dense entanglement of vines and lianas, in a small trail within a forest fragment of c. 500 ha. This fragment is located at the left bank of the Rio Preto (22°14′45″ S, 44°12′40″ W -530 m),  Table 1. and represents one of the few remaining submontane rainforests of the region (Lombardi et al. 2012).
Santana do Deserto (2): This municipality was surveyed by LGM, RM and AP in September 2009 and June 2010 and the species was found in four different sites. In the first one (21°56'05″ S, 43°16′11″ W -580 m), a couple was heard and tape-recorded at a closed border of a submontane rainforest fragment. In the second area (21°55′57″ S, 43°14′26″ W -520 m), only one individual was observed foraging in the understory of a forest fragment dominated by lianas close to a dirt road ( Figure  2A). In the third location (21°56′27″ S, 43°13′39″ W -550 m) a couple was observed and tape-recorded (XC39619) at the border of a forest fragment dominated by bamboo stands (Merostachys sp.), whereas in the last recording site (21°59'04″ S, 43°11′50″ W -450 m) four individuals were heard and tape-recorded from dense second-growth thickets next to a small paved road. In this last area we also recorded other Atlantic Forest endemic or typical species such as the Spot-breasted Antvireo Dysithamnus stictothorax (Temminck, 1823) and the Long-billed Wren Cantorchilus longirostris (Vieillot, 1819). There is also a male specimen from this locality, collected at Fazenda Furtado, and currently housed at MNRJ (MNRJ 44441).
Além Paraíba ( Claravis pretiosa (Ferrari-Perez, 1886) and Spot-breasted Antvireo Dysithamnus stictothorax. On the following day, another couple was tape-recorded in the left bank of the same river, foraging along riparian thickets dominated by bamboo. In both occasions the individuals responded aggressively to playback. Table 1. List of the recording localities of the Rio de Janeiro Antbird Cercomacra brasiliana in southeastern Brazil. Sources: 1 -This study; a -Specimen housed at MCNA; 2 -Specimen housed at MNRJ; 3 -Specimen housed at MZUFV; 4 -Specimen housed at AMNH; 5 -Specimen housed at MZUSP; 6 -Tape-recording available at ASEC; 7 -Tape-recording available at Xeno-Canto; 8 - Ribon et al. (2004); 9 -Pacheco and Fonseca (1992); 10 -Sick (1997)   Our most inland record (municipality of Dom Joaquim) extends the Rio de Janeiro Antbird's known range over 200 km westwards (Ridgely et al. 2007), and only 30 km away from the eastern border of the Espinhaço Mountain Range (Figure 1). The record obtained in Carlos Chagas also expands the known altitudinal limit of the species, proposed by Stotz et al. (1996) between 600 and 1,000 m. Our results shows that C. brasiliana is a little more widespread than previously thought; although in many areas it was very uncommon and patchily distributed, in agreement with previous information (Stotz et al. 1996, Zimmer and Isler 2003, BirdLife International 2012. Currently, C. brasiliana is known only from the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia and Espírito Santo. Due to the lack of documented records, the species was not included in the checklist of birds from the state of São Paulo (Silveira and Uezu 2011). According to Rego et al. (2013) the record presented for this state by Pacheco and Fonseca (1992) is erroneous, as well as possible skins collected by Friedrich Sellow, which were more probably collected in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
It is also important to stress that none of our records were done within federal or state reserves, although the record obtained in Rio Casca is only about 20 km away from the boundaries of Rio Doce State Park, and the ocurrence of the species in this reserve is, thus, expected. Therefore, playback surveys in conservation units that could harbor the species are strongly recommended. The protection of the remaining Atlantic Forest fragments where the species was recorded in southeastern Brazil is urgent.