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This reserve was established in 1999 to protect a small population of the recently rediscovered Pale-headed Brush-Finch which had not been seen for 30 years. It is located in the Yunguilla Valley in Azuay province in Southern Ecuador and protects 27 hectares of land. This patch of land contains the only known remaining suitable habitat for the Brush-Finch whose range is restricted to the Rio Jubones drainage.
The habitat of the Pale-headed Brush-finch is deciduous/semi-evergreen scrub found in arid intermontane valleys in south-west Ecuador. This area is intensely cultivated wherever water is available. Much of the existing vegetation has been removed by grazing animals.
The habitat in the Yunguilla reserve is one of many threatened habitats found in an area called the Tumbesian region (after the Tumbes department of Peru) in west Ecuador and north-west Peru. The Tumbesian region is of high biological importance, containing at least only 45 species of birds which occur only there, 14 of which are threatened with extinction. The main threats to these species comes through severe habitat loss due to activities such as cultivation, grazing, and logging.
The Yunguilla reserve has been fenced to prevent grazing and research is underway to determine the best course of action to conserve the Brush-Finch and its habitat.
By 2006 conservation work on the reserve has increased the known population of this Critically Endangered species about five fold, to over 100 individuals.
"For more details on the Pale-headed Brush-Finch, please visit the website http://http://www.atlapetespallidiceps.wetpaint.com/ "
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Read about Fundación Jocotoco's other reserves in Ecuador
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