This was the main target of our second trip to Brazil, partially because of how rare it is but also because it is striking and has a cool story. It was only "discovered" in 1996 and scientifically described in 1998. This "discovery" was not some split from another similar looking species, it is totally unique in its appearance. It simply flew under the radar because it has a very small range and people just were not looking for birds there. Initially upon discovery it was thought to be almost extinct with only 50 birds, but since then surveys have been more promising with an estimate of about 500 pairs. Most of the known breeding population is found in the middle of a Theme Park (think water slides and rides) which is a bit alarming, but they have actually done a good job of protecting and promoting this bird.
We found this female on nest!
The range map from Wiki shows how limited this bird is in distribution.
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