Carrizal Seedeater
CRCritically Endangered

Carrizal Seedeater

Amaurospiza carrizalensis

The Carrizal seedeater is a species of bird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is endemic to Venezuela.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC) via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrizal_seedeater

01Classification

Taxonomy & Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Cardinalidae

Genus

Amaurospiza

Carrizal Seedeater belongs to the family Cardinalidae, order Passeriformes, within the Aves class.

02Description

Species Profile

The Carrizal seedeater is a species of bird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is endemic to Venezuela.

The Carrizal Seedeater faces severe threats primarily from habitat destruction and degradation of its specialized wetland environment in Venezuela. Agricultural expansion, urban development, and water management changes have drastically reduced the availability of suitable marsh and grassland habitats that this species depends on for breeding and foraging.

Key Facts

IUCN StatusCritically Endangered (CR)
GroupBirds
03Habitat

Habitat & Distribution

The specimens of Carrizal seedeater were collected on Isla Carrizal in the Caroni River of northern Venezuela. Construction of the Tocoma Dam, which began in 2006, flooded the island. The species has since been found elsewhere in the Caroni River watershed. It is known only from stands of spiny Guadua and Ripidocladus species of bamboo in deciduous forest.

04Threats

Threats

!

IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered

The Carrizal Seedeater faces severe threats primarily from habitat destruction and degradation of its specialized wetland environment in Venezuela. Agricultural expansion, urban development, and water management changes have drastically reduced the availability of suitable marsh and grassland habitats that this species depends on for breeding and foraging.

Agricultural expansion

HighOngoing

Extremely small population size

HighOngoing

Habitat loss and degradation

HighOngoing

Urban development

HighOngoing

Water management and drainage

HighOngoing
Community

Community Sightings

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07Sources

Sources & Attribution

How to Cite

IUCN: IUCN (2025). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2025-1. Available at: https://www.iucnredlist.org. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-1.RLTS

GBIF: GBIF.org (2025). GBIF Home Page. Available at: https://www.gbif.org

This page: SpeciesRadar (2025). Carrizal Seedeater (Amaurospiza carrizalensis). SpeciesRadar: Intelligence for Earth's Biodiversity. Available at: https://speciesradar.org/species/carrizal-seedeater

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