A collection of birds from Presidente Kennedy and adjacent areas, Tocantins: a further contribution to knowledge of Amazonian avifauna between the Araguaia and Tocantins Rivers

Guilherme R R Brito,Daniel H Firme,Nelson Buainain,Guy M Kirwan,Claydson P Assis,Daniel M Figueira,Marcos A Raposo

doi:10.1007/bf03544343

Abstract

We report on a collection of birds made at a study site in Presidente Kennedy, midway between the Araguaia and Tocantins Rivers, in north-central Tocantins state, Brazil. Interesting records are presented for 22 species, most of them principally Amazonian taxa with comparatively few previous records for the state of Tocantins, and generally amplifying their local ranges either further south, from the north of the state, or further east, from the banks of the Araguaia River. Among them, we report the first specimen records for Tocantins of hybrids/intermediaries Pyrrhura parakeets of the “ P. perlata-coerulescens ” complex (which was common at our study site), Pearly-breasted Cuckoo Coccyzus euler i, Yellow-billed Cuckoo C. americanus , Rufous-tailed Flatbill Ramphotrigon ruficauda and Sooty Grassquit Tiaris fuliginosus . Our surveys emphasize once more the unusually high component of Amazonian species within the scattered taller forests of this region of predominantly Cerrado physiognomies.

Highlights

Brazil's newest state, Tocantins, was created in 1988, encompassing what had formerly been the northern part of the state of Goiás
We report on a collection of birds made at a study site in Presidente Kennedy, midway between the Araguaia and Tocantins Rivers, in north-central Tocantins state, Brazil
Interesting records are presented for 22 species, most of them principally Amazonian taxa with comparatively few previous records for the state of Tocantins, and generally amplifying their local ranges either further south, from the north of the state, or further east, from the banks of the Araguaia River

Summary

Introduction

Brazil's newest state, Tocantins, was created in 1988, encompassing what had formerly been the northern part of the state of Goiás. The western boundary of the state is formed by the floodplain of the Araguaia River, which includes extensive wetlands and Amazonian forest. The Ilha do Bananal, formed by two branches of the Araguaia, is generally stated to be the largest river island in the world, and consists of marshlands and seasonally flooded savannas with gallery forest; where the two branches meet, they form the Cantão inland delta, protected as part of a state park, with typical Amazonian igapó flooded forest. Emilie Snethlage, famous for her prodigious collections and publications on Brazilian birds, visited what is Tocantins in 1927 (at the time part of Goiás state), the Ilha do Bananal, and the locality of Furo de Pedra Snethlage published little concerning her findings in Tocantins (Silva 1989), several of the noteworthy records reported in the present work are the first for the state since

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