A Cerrado bird community in the northernmost portion of northeastern Brazil - recommendations for conservation

Abstract

he Cerrado is the largest savanna in South America and it is rich in fauna and flora and considered a biodiversity hotspot. Its contact with the surrounding Amazon, Atlantic Forest and Caatinga is irregular, forming large diffuse ecotones in some regions and disjointed patches in others. The Cerrado patches located in the Amazon are relatively studied, but little is known about those in the Atlantic Forest and Caatinga. This article presents information on the composition of a bird community in a savanna formation on the coast of the northernmost portion of northeast Brazil (5o23'25S / 35o30'25W). This site was visited 17 times between October 2006 and August 2013. The total richness was 87 species distributed into 32 families. The following Cerrado endemics were recorded: Charitospiza eucosma and Porphyrospiza caerulescens. Other species recorded associated mainly with the Cerrado biome were Heliactin bilophus, Cypsnagra hirundinacea and Coryphaspiza melanotis. Some vulnerable and near threatened species were also recorded for the first time in the northernmost portion of northeastern Brazil, with some of these more than 1,000 km from their previously known localities. The results broaden the knowledge on the distribution of various species, in addition to providing information on seasonality and reproduction of others and revealing an overall lack of information on the composition of avian communities in little studied areas of Brazil.