RAPTOR COMMUNITIES IN FRENCH GUIANA: DISTRIBUTION, HABITAT SELECTION, AND CONSERVATION

Abstract

ABSTRACT French Guiana still has a full gradient of natural habitats, from coastal mangroves, marshes, and savannas (ca. 3700 km2), to swamp and terra firme lowland primary rain forest (ca. 80 000 km2). Thirty-two study sites, >2000 ha each, were surveyed throughout the country, including all major vegetation types from 1981 to 2003 during >5472 hr of effective daylight raptor searches. Census techniques took into account the behavior and detectability of every species to assess their abundance and habitat associations. The French Guiana raptor community included 27 forest species, five species restricted to forest edges and large gaps, five species of wetlands and mangroves, eight coastal grassland specialists, four nearctic migrants, and seven occasional taxa of unconfirmed status. In the 19 undisturbed primary forest sites, the most common raptor was the Lined Forest-Falcon (Micrastur gilvicollis). Many species were rare or patchily distributed: 15% of all species were found in only 5–11% of the 32 loc...