FOURTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE FOR ECUADORIAN RECORDS IN ORNITHOLOGY (CERO) AND A REVISION OF UNDOCUMENTED AND ERRONEOUS RECORDS IN LITERATURE

Abstract

We present new distributional records of birds in Ecuador submitted to the Committee for Ecuadorian Records in Ornithology (CERO) from September 2015 through July 2017. This report includes four species new to Ecuador (Plegadis ridgwayi, Cathartes burrovianus, Malacoptila mystacalis, Vireo gilvus), two species new to Galapagos (Calidris pugnax, Larosterna inca), five species with first documented country records (Fregata minor, Syrigma sibilatrix, Calidris pugnax, Larus belcheri, Sternula antillarum), remarkable range extensions for eight species (Anas bahamensis, Fregata sp., Jabiru mycteria, Phimosus infuscatus, Caracara cheriway, Larus dominicanus, Chloroceryle aenea, Sturnella militaris), new records of eight rare species (Anhima cornuta, Mustelirallus albicollis, Larus argentatus, Larosterna inca, Myrmoborus lugubris, Machetornis rixosa, Progne elegans, Conirostrum bicolor) and new records of Nothoprocta curvirostris and Tyrannus tyrannus. We present the first Ecuadorian records of three subspecies (Tolmomyias sulphurescens insignis, Myiarchus swainsoni phaenotus, Oxyura jamaicensis andina, although the taxonomic validity of the latter is debated). Further we discuss the subspecific identity of Petrochelidon pyrrhonota in Ecuador. Finally, we invalidate previous records of 43 species for mainland Ecuador and 6 species for Galapagos, as published in different sources, and reject a remotesensing record of Cypseloides niger. CERO revises and updates the country bird list, which currently stands at 1690 species (1632 confirmed and documented; 58 undocumented).