Colombian Birds Research Articles

The once-invisible legacy of Elizabeth L. Kerr, a naturalist in the early 20th century, and her contributions to Colombian ornithology

Abstract Mrs. Elizabeth L. Kerr was a bird and mammal collector who traveled to Colombia in the early 20th century when women had very limited access to education or scientific expeditions. Despite her notable contributions to Colombian ornithology, including collecting the holotype of a new species to science (Chocó Tinamou—Crypturellus kerriae), her name is not mentioned in historical accounts of ornithology in Colombia. Here, we describe what we know about Kerr’s life as a collector and her legacy in the study of Colombian birds. We highlight the fact that Kerr has become a role model for female naturalists and provide a short account of an all-female ornithological expedition to resurvey one of Kerr’s collecting sites. By bringing Kerr’s legacy to the public eye, we hope to raise awareness of implicit bias and barriers faced by women in science.

Increased exposure of Colombian birds to rapidly expanding human footprint

Understanding and mapping anthropogenic threats on species distributions is a crucial task in conservation science to identify priority areas and propose appropriate conservation strategies. Yet, there is a big challenge to quantify how these threats are associated with species distribution patterns at multiple temporal scales. For birds, existing national and global analyses have mostly focused on forest specialists and they tend to consider only one time period. Here, we evaluated spatial and temporal changes in human footprint within the distributions of Colombian birds from 1970 to 2018, and projected them into 2030. We show that widespread increases in human footprint were common within the distribution of terrestrial birds. Endemic and threatened birds have been disproportionately affected by past increases in human footprint within their distribution, and this trend will continue into the future. Several areas harboring high diversity of forest-specialists remained relatively intact up to 2018. However, our predictions show significantly higher and faster (>2% annual change) levels of transformation within these areas by 2030. Importantly, our results suggest that non-forest birds could be experiencing habitat quality declines that are just as significant as those shown for forest birds. Our results show that mitigating negative anthropogenic effects on bird habitats in Colombia requires an array of conservation strategies that range from strict habitat protection to mixed management. These analyses can serve as inputs in conservation decision tools that consider spatiotemporal variation of anthropic threats under multiple scenarios of change.

Fourteen new additions to the list of birds of Quindío department, Colombia

Recent records of bird species in the Colombian Andes have shown that this region is not as well known as was previously believed. We compiled data from a major collection of Colombian birds and from our recent field observations to complement the bird species list of Quindío department. We report the addition of 14 species to Quindío’s checklist and data of museum vouchers for 12 species reported only from field observations. The majority of additions were from localities below 1,900 m above sea level, a zone that has been highly transformed by human activities. Our dataset, and other information, raised the number of bird species in Quindío to 560. This information must be considered in decisions about the land use in this region of the Colombian Andes.

Feather mites (Acariformes: Psoroptidia) from Colombia: Preliminary list with new records

A preliminary checklist of feather mites from Colombia is presented. The list was compiled from a survey of publishedliterature, and from new records obtained by removing mites from live wild birds and dried museum skins. A total of 107taxa of feather mites identified to the species level were recorded, 86 species from the literature and another 21 speciesreported here for the first time from Colombian birds. At the generic level, 52 taxa were identified, including 39 new re-cords for the country. These feather mites are from 22 families, among which 13 are from the Analgoidea and 9 from thePterolichoidea. The families with the most feather mite species known from Colombia are the Proctophyllodidae and Pter-olichidae with 22 and 23 species, respectively. Associations of feather mites with 192 bird species of 43 families in 20orders were found. These birds represent only 10.2% of all bird species recorded in Colombia. The White-collared Swift,Streptoprocne zonaris (Shaw) was the bird with the most species of feather mites recorded (5 spp.). The number of Co-lombian birds with identified taxa of feather mites is very low given the rich avifauna of this country. Special attention should be given to the 73 endemic Colombian bird species of which only four have feather mite records.

Virus del oeste del Nilo: ecología y epidemiología de un patógeno emergente en Colombia

West Nile virus (WNV) has an enzootic mosquito-bird-mosquito cycle in nature, Culex sp mosquitoes being the main vectors. Birds are the main amplifying hosts. Humans and horses are incidental dead-end hosts. It produces a flu-like or a self-limited febrile disease in most humans. It can cause encephalitis, meningitis or meningoencephalitis in cases of neurological disease, having greater incidence and mortality from encephalitis in older people and immune-compromised patients. Outbreaks have been reported in Africa, the Middle-east, Europe and Asia. WNV first appeared in North-America in 1999 and its circulation has been documented in Mexico, the Caiman islands, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Martinique, Guadalupe, Cuba, Puerto Rico, El Salvador and more recently in Colombia. The public health concern regarding WNV if it becomes introduced into Middle- and South-America will depend upon the interaction of several factors. The prevailing conditions in Colombia are apt for its spread and development. There are two main hypotheses; the virus could become enzootic and endemic and cause limited human disease, or it could become epidemic and cause annual outbreaks affecting large numbers of humans and animals. It will depend upon Colombian birds' susceptibility to the virus because of biological differences and intra-specific geographical variations in mosquitoe species' vector competence and the environmental effects on its ability to transmit the virus; such factors are determinant in the primary amplifying cycle.

Paucity of hematozoa in Colombian birds.

Sixty-four birds of 43 species were caught at six localities in Colombia during the dry season in March 1998 and investigated for hematozoa by microscopic examination of stained blood films. Haemoproteus coatneyi, Plasmodium vaughani, Leucocytozoon sp., and microfilariae were identified. The overall prevalence of infection was 8%. Prevalences of infection for Haemoproteus spp., Plasmodium spp., Leucocytozoon spp., and microfilariae were 3%, 2%, 2%, and 3%, respectively. All hemosporidian infections encountered were of low intensity (< 1% of infected erythrocytes). The low prevalences and intensities of hemosporidian parasites in this study are in accord with other records from the Neotropics.

Distributional Changes in the Colombian Avifauna: A Preliminary Blue List

Some important man-caused changes in the distributions of Colombian bird populations are discussed. Examination of the changes is based on a preliminary Blue List of 135 species with declining populations. Canopy frugivores dominate the list, followed by terrestrial and aquatic species, respectively. There are proportionately more highland species on the list than lowland species. Two regions, the central Colombian highlands, and the Cauca-Magdalena lowlands contain more declining species than other avifaunal regions. Almost two-thirds of Colombia's endemic species have been placed on the list. Some species have profited from deforestation or other human activities, and these are discussed. RESUMEN. Se discuten algunos cambios importantes, causados por el hombre, en las distribuciones de poblaciones de aves colombianas. El reconocimiento de los cambios esta basado en la Lista Azul preliminar de 135 especies con poblaciones en disminuci6n. Los frugivoros del tope del bosque dominan la lista, seguidos respectivamente por especies terrestres y acuaticas. Proporcionalmente en la lista hay mas especies de tierras altas que de tierras bajas. Dos regiones, las tierras altas del centro de Colombia y las tierras bajas de Cauca-Magdalena, presentan mas especies en disminucion que otras regiones de avifaunas. Casi dos tercios de las especies endemicas de Colombia estan incluidas en la lista. Se discute tambien la ganancia que obtuvieron otras aves por la deforestation y otras actividades humanas. In this paper I examine changes in the distributions of Colombian bird populations. Olivares (1970) and Lehmann (1970) discussed some effects of environmental change on birds in Colombia and mentioned examples of species that have profited or been harmed by these changes. However, neither author attempted to provide a comprehensive overview of the country's avifauna. Some of Colombia's endangered or threatened species are discussed in the International Council for Bird Preservation (ICBP) Bird Red Data Book (King 1981). Unfortunately, little other information has been compiled on distributional changes of Colombian birds. Furthermore, bird populations in Colombia (or most anywhere in developing regions of the world) are not systematically surveyed or evaluated like they are through the Blue List for North America (Arbib 1971), the Christmas Bird Counts, or more recently the natural heritage inventories of The Nature Conservancy. There is no systematic research on endangered Colombian species either by government or private agencies. In order to examine distributional changes in Colombia's avifauna a preliminary Blue List was prepared. This list is similar in concept to that initiated in North America in 1971 by Robert Arbib (Arbib 1971). The latter list, updated annually, includes North American birds that are of special concern because they appear to be ... giving indications of non-cyclic population decline or range contractions, either locally or widespread (Arbib 1971). Species on the list may be fairly common locally, or even widespread, but because of habitat reduction, chemical contamination, hunting pressure, or other causes, their populations appear to be in decline. As noted by Arbib (1971, 1972) the Blue List is essentially an early warning system that focuses attention on problem species and may help alert the scientific community, government agencies, and the public to situations where action is needed. I include on the present list (Table 1) most species whose geographical ranges in Colombia are believed to have declined by at least 50 percent. Unlike the North American Blue List, I also include all endangered species listed by the ICBP Bird Red Data Book (King 1981) because information on these species is scarce. I exclude species known only from one or a few localities near the Colombian border, or species known only from Bogota specimens without precise locality (Meyer de Schauensee 1 948). I also exclude a considerable number of species whose ranges probably have contracted by 50 percent or more due to deforestation since pre-Colombian times but that still occur commonly wherever tracts of forestland remain. Examples of species in this

Relationships of the Races of Phaeoprogne Tapera and Their Probable Significance

THE genus Phaeoprogne of Baird is confined to South America, ranging from northern Venezuela southward through the Tropical Zone and beyond to the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains two forms, a northern and a southern one. For the former, in 1912, 1 proposed the name Phaeoprogne tapera immaculata in the belief the name tapera of Linneus was applicable to the latter. But in 'The Auk' for April, 1929, Mr. W. E. Clyde Todd,' confirming Baird,2 shows the northern bird should be known as tapera Linneus, the southern, as fusca Vieillot. Dr. Hellmayr3 has also reached the same conclusion, and in its fundamental aspects we may, therefore, consider this question of names as nearly settled as such questions ever can be. Mr. Todd, however, calls these birds Phaeoprogne tapera and Phaeoprogne fusca, while I would call them Phaeoprogne tapera tapera and Phaeoprogne tapera fusca. This sounds very much like the difference between tweedledum and tweedledee, but I hope to show the use here of binomials conceals certain significant biological facts to which, so far as nomenclature can, trinomials give expression. Mr. Todd does not hesitate to state in italics these two birds are perfectly distinct species and that their respective ranges overlap over an extensive area. It is my belief, however, these two forms are mutually representative, intergrading races and their breeding ranges overlap only along the line of intergradation. The evidence on which this opinion is based seems to me to be of sufficient importance to warrant presentation. The problem is not a new one to me. In 1917,4 when writing on Colombian birds, I stated I was unable to explain it, but

Chapman on New Colombian Birds Diagnoses of Apparently New Colombian Birds. IV Frank M. Chapman

Chapman on New Colombian Birds Diagnoses of Apparently New Colombian Birds. IV Frank M. Chapman

Chapman on New Colombian Birds Diagnoses of Apparently New Colombian Birds. III Frank M. Chapman

Chapman on New Colombian Birds Diagnoses of Apparently New Colombian Birds. III Frank M. Chapman

Chapman on New Birds from Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador Diagnoses of Apparently New Colombian Birds, II Frank M. Chapman Descriptions of a New Genus and Species of Birds from Venezuela Frank M. Chapman Descriptions of New Birds from Ecuador Frank M. Chapman

Chapman on New Birds from Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador Diagnoses of Apparently New Colombian Birds, II Frank M. Chapman Descriptions of a New Genus and Species of Birds from Venezuela Frank M. Chapman Descriptions of New Birds from Ecuador Frank M. Chapman

Chapman on New Colombian Birds Diagnoses of Apparently New Colombian Birds Frank M. Chapman

Chapman on New Colombian Birds Diagnoses of Apparently New Colombian Birds Frank M. Chapman

Bangs on Colombian Birds On a Small Collection of Birds from San Sebastian, Colombia Outram Bangs The Gray-Breasted Wood Wrens of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Outram Bangs

Bangs on Colombian Birds On a Small Collection of Birds from San Sebastian, Colombia Outram Bangs The Gray-Breasted Wood Wrens of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Outram Bangs