Seven-coloured tanager  (Tangara fastuosa)

Encouragingly, the seven-coloured tanager was ‘downlisted' from Endangered to Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List in 2004, following important recent discoveries of a number of previously-unknown populations (2) (4). Nevertheless, the bird is still in grave danger of extinction, with the small remaining population in an ongoing decline as a result of habitat loss and trapping to supply the cage-bird trade (2) (4). Just two percent of north-east Brazil's original Atlantic Forest now remains, having been cleared on a massive scale, or replaced by secondary forest without the epiphytes needed for nesting (6), largely as a result of logging and conversion to sugarcane plantations and pastureland (2). Today, just 95 km² of suitable habitat remains, divided over a number of small fragments (6), and most of this is still subject to selective logging and poaching (2) (4). This vibrantly-coloured bird is in high demand for the cage-bird trade, and trapping is heavy due to the high prices commanded by the species' exceptional plumage (2) (6). Professional trappers are able to catch up to 30 seven-coloured tanagers in a single day where the species is at its most common, and law enforcement is noticeably absent, particularly in Alagoas (4). With new roads still being cut through the last remnant forest fragments, access for hunters is getting ever-easier and the chances of long-term survival for this bird look increasingly slim (6).

The seven-coloured tanager is listed on CITES Appendix II, and has been protected under Brazilian law since 1965 (2) (4). The species has been recorded in Dunas de Natal State Park, Charles Darwin Ecological Refuge, Mata do Pau Ferro Ecological Park, Serra dos Cavalos UFPE, Tapacurá, and Murici Ecological Stations, and Saltinho and Pedra Talhada Biological Reserves. However, adequate protection of both the bird and its forest habitat within these ‘protected areas' is often lacking on the ground, such as at the recently decreed Murici Ecological Station, where forest loss continues due to pasture encroachment and charcoal production. However, significant areas are being reforested at Pedra Talhada, where protection is effectively enforced by guards and apparently welcomed by local communities (2). Natural regeneration and forestation schemes being undertaken elsewhere in the country may benefit this species, whose ability to inhabit second-growth forest is encouraging and provides hope for its future survival (2) (4). Some captive birds are being confiscated and released back into reserves, but this will only succeed if these areas are better protected and legal measures are more strictly enforced to prevent trade (2).