Conservation and Management

The species has been listed as globally Endangered (C2a(i)) by Birdlife International since 2014, on the basis of its declining population and small population size. The destruction of its montane forest habitat, as well as direct human persecution, are inferred to be driving a rapid and continued population decline (56 BirdLife International (2021) Species factsheet: Spizaetus isidori. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 26/11/2021. Close ). This assessment is based on recent observations on abundance parameters in Colombia, the low number of records in extensive areas of Venezuela, southern Bolivia, and northern Argentina, and the growing evidence of persecution throughout its distribution range.

Conservation Status by Country

Venezuela

Near Threatened (59 Sharpe, C. J. (2008). Aves. In Libro Rojo de la Fauna Venezolana. Terca edición (J. P. Rodríguez and F. Rojas-Suárez, Editors). Provita and Shell Venezuela, S. A., Caracas, Venezuela. pp. 122–157. Close ).

Colombia

Endangered (60 Renjifo, L. M., M. F. Gómez, J. V. Tibatá, Á. M. Amaya-Villarreal, G. H. Kattan, J. D. Amaya-Espinel, and J. B. Girón (2014). Libro rojo de aves de Colombia: Vol 1. Bosques húmedos de los Andes y Costa Pacífica. Edtitorial Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia. Close ).

Ecuador

Critically Endangered (61 Freile, J. F., T. Santander G., L. Carrasco, D. F. Cisneros-Heredia, E. A. Guevara, M. Sánchez-Nivicela, and B. A. Tinoco (2019). Lista roja de las aves del Ecuador continental. Ministerio del Ambiente, Aves y Conservación, Comité Ecuatoriano de Registros Ornitológicos, Universidad del Azuay, Red Aves Ecuador y Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador. Close ).

Peru

Vulnerable (62 Piana, R. (2018) Spizaetus isidori. In Libro Rojo de la Fauna Silvestre Amenazada del Perú. Primera edición (E. D. Cossios Meza, Editor), SERFOR, Lima, Peru. pp. 271. Close ).

Bolivia

Vulnerable (63 Balderrama, J. A., C. Olivo, and M. Crespo (2009). Spizaetus isidori. In Libro rojo de la fauna silvestre de vertebrados de Bolivia. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Agua, La Paz, Bolivia. pp. 361-362. Close ).

Argentina

Endangered (64 García-Fernández, J. J., R. Ojeda, R. Fraga, G. B. Diaz, and R. Baigun (1997). Libro Rojo de Mamíferos y Aves Amenazados de la Argentina. FUCEMA - Fundación Para la Conservación de las Especies y el Medio Ambiente, Buenos Aires, Argentina Close ).

Throughout its range, the main threats to the Black-and-chestnut Eagle are habitat loss and human persecution. The feeding habits of this eagle, including a significant proportion of medium-sized birds in its diet, makes it very vulnerable to human persecution because of its predation on poultry (65 Márquez, C., and L. M. Renjifo (2002). Oroaetus isidori. In Libro rojo de aves de Colombia. Serie Libros rojos de especies amenazadas de Colombia (L .M. Renjifo, A. M. Franco-Maya, J. D. Amaya-Espinel, G. Kattan, and López-Lánus, Editors). Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt y Ministerio del Medio Ambiente, Bogotá, Colombia. Close , 66 Córdoba-Córdoba, S., M. A. Echeverry-Galvis, and F. Estela (2008). Nuevos registros de distribución para el Águila Crestada (Spizaetus isidori) y el Águila Iguanera (S. tyrannus) para Colombia, con anotaciones para su identificación. Ornitología Colombiana 7:66-74 Close ).

Habitat Loss and Degradation

In Colombia, historical habitat loss was estimated at 60.6% in 2014 (60 Renjifo, L. M., M. F. Gómez, J. V. Tibatá, Á. M. Amaya-Villarreal, G. H. Kattan, J. D. Amaya-Espinel, and J. B. Girón (2014). Libro rojo de aves de Colombia: Vol 1. Bosques húmedos de los Andes y Costa Pacífica. Edtitorial Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia. Close ). This threat is present virtually throughout its entire distribution. In Argentina, montane forests in the Yungas are actually relatively protected by forest conservation laws and protected areas, but have suffered from intensive selective logging for decades and have a high incidence of free ranging cattle that eliminates the understory, compromising the long-term renewal of an already impoverished forest. In addition, 70% of lowland transitional forest that may act as corridors between mountain ranges for the species has already been deforested (67 Malizia, L., S. Pacheco, C. Blundo, A. D. Brown (2012). Caracterización altitudinal, uso y conservación de las Yungas subtropicales de Argentina. Ecosistemas 21(1-2):53-73 Close ).

Shooting and Trapping

In one study in Colombia, the human perception of Black-and-chestnut Eagles was largely negative, and the researchers obtained evidence that indicated that at least 47 eagles were shot, and 16 were captured (three for illegal trafficking) (51 Restrepo-Cardona J. S., M. A. Echeverry-Galvis, D. L. Maya, F. H. Vargas, O. Tapasco, and L. M. Renjifo (2020) Human-raptor conflict in rural settlements of Colombia. PLoS ONE 15(1):e0227704. Close ). The persecution occurs in retaliation for, or as a preventive measure against, chicken predation, and is a significant cause of mortality of this species in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru (51 Restrepo-Cardona J. S., M. A. Echeverry-Galvis, D. L. Maya, F. H. Vargas, O. Tapasco, and L. M. Renjifo (2020) Human-raptor conflict in rural settlements of Colombia. PLoS ONE 15(1):e0227704. Close , 54 Zuluaga, S., F. H. Vargas, S. Kohn, and J. M. Grande (2022). Top-down local management, perceived contribution to people, and actual detriments influence a rampant human‒top predator conflict in the Neotropics. Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation 20(2):91-102 Close , Rivas-Fuenzalida et al., unpublished data). Human persecution was detected in 54.2% of the known breeding territories in the central Andes of Peru (n = 35), resulting in 25 juveniles, 3 adults, 2 immatures, and 9 unaged eagles to be killed between 1999 and 2020 (Rivas-Fuenzalida et al., unpublished data, Orizano et al., unpublished data). Despite evidence that Black-and-chestnut Eagle preys on domestic chickens in Argentina (37 Aráoz, R., J. M. Grande, C. López, J. Cereghetti, and F. H. Vargas (2017). The first Black-and-Chestnut Eagle (Spizaetus isidori) nest discovered in Argentina reveals potential human-predator conflicts. Journal of Raptor Research 51(1):79–82. Close ), surveys conducted in the northern half of the species distribution there suggests that the rural population has little knowledge of the species and has no particular conflict with the eagle (68 Salom, A., M. E. Suárez, C. A. Destefano, J. Cereghetti, F. H. Vargas, and J. M. Grande (2021). Human-Wildlife Conflicts in the Southern Yungas: What Role do Raptors Play for Local Settlers?. Animals 11(5):1428. Close ). However, of two GPS-banded dispersing juveniles, one was shot and the other disappeared in the same area (Zuluaga et al., unpublished data).

Collisions with Stationary Structures or Objects

In addition to habitat loss and human persecution, the species has also been documented to have been electrocuted on high-tension wires. In Colombia, two were recorded as being electrocuted (51 Restrepo-Cardona J. S., M. A. Echeverry-Galvis, D. L. Maya, F. H. Vargas, O. Tapasco, and L. M. Renjifo (2020) Human-raptor conflict in rural settlements of Colombia. PLoS ONE 15(1):e0227704. Close ), while in Ecuador, juveniles from at least two nesting sites were also electrocuted (SK, unpublished data).

In Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Argentina, the Black-and-chestnut Eagle Project South America (BCE Project) was developed in 2017 to preserve the known reproductive populations of the species. This project is being driven by several NGOs and research institutes, including Fundación Proyecto Águila Crestada Colombia, Fundación Cóndor Andino Ecuador, Fundación Ñankulafkén, Club de Observadores de Aves de Oxapampa, The Peregrine Fund, and Colaboratorio de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Conservación-CONICET. In this project, the number of known nests of the species in South America increased from 4 (in 2014) to ~50 (in 2022).