Abstract
Yellow-naped amazons, Amazona auropalliata, have experienced a dramatic population decline due to persistent habitat loss and poaching. In 2017, BirdLife International changed the species’ status from threatened to endangered and estimated that between 10,000 and 50,000 individuals remained in the wild. An accurate estimate of the number of remaining wild individuals is critical to implementing effective conservation plans. Wright et al. conducted roost count surveys in Costa Rica and Nicaragua during 2016 and published their data in 2019; however, no population data exists for the rest of the range. We conducted roost counts at 28 sites across Mexico, Guatemala, and the Bay Islands in Roatan during 2018 and 2019. We counted 679 birds and combined our data with the published Wright et al. (2019) data for a total of 2361 wild yellow-naped amazons observed across the species’ range. There were fewer roosts detected in the northern region of the range than in the southern region. We found that roosts were most likely to occur in built-up rural and pasture habitat, with 71% found within 100 m of human habitation. Our results illustrate the need for immediate conservation action to mitigate decline, such as enforced legal action against poaching, nest guarding, and increased community education efforts.
Highlights
The rapid collection of population and demographic data on wild populations of endangered species has become increasingly imperative in the face of the modern mass extinction
It is estimated that in the upcoming decades we will see drastic population declines which could result in the extinction of 54% of all species due to global warming, habitat loss caused by agricultural expansion, deforestation, unregulated grazing, urbanization, and other human activities [1,2]
Dry tropical forest habitat, which once covered major swaths of Mesoamerica, has suffered significant losses due to deforestation and increased agricultural production [4,5]. This habitat type is home to a substantial proportion of the world’s diversity, especially with regard to bats and birds; in the year 2000, only 30% of the original extent of this land cover remained in Central America [5]
Summary
The rapid collection of population and demographic data on wild populations of endangered species has become increasingly imperative in the face of the modern mass extinction. Dry tropical forest habitat, which once covered major swaths of Mesoamerica, has suffered significant losses due to deforestation and increased agricultural production [4,5] This habitat type is home to a substantial proportion of the world’s diversity, especially with regard to bats and birds; in the year 2000, only 30% of the original extent of this land cover remained in Central America [5]. As tropical dry forests become smaller and more fragmented, remaining patches sustain fewer residents and other individuals are pushed into human-altered habitat such as pastures and rural villages, where they are often exposed to human interaction.
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