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BIRDING
HONDURAS Birding Resource for Central America |
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BIRDING
HONDURAS Birding Resource for Central America |
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RESEARCH
Some interesting bird research has been happening in Honduras since 2005. Here we post research updates to highlight the investigators and their projects, as well as links to some gray literature you aren’t likely to find elsewhere. Keep reading and follow the links for the latest and best information on Honduran birds. We invite anyone to send us their research updates.
David
L. Anderson – Louisiana State University
Rainforest canopy bird assemblages
That would be
your's truly, co-author of “Birding Honduras” and web master
of the same. I am pursuing my doctoral degree in ornithology at LSU. I am
studying the canopy avifauna in a humid forest in Pico Bonito National Park.
My research has two main thrusts. First, I am using multiple methods to
assess which birds most frequent the forest canopy. I count birds at stations
along trails in the forest, from view points in canopy trees that I visit
once each, and from canopy trees that I visit multiple times. The trees
I climb are between 40 and 50 m tall (130 to 150 feet). I will compare methods
for censusing canopy birds, something that has never been done before. After
I identify those species that can be considered forest canopy specialists
I will use multivariate statistical procedures to try and answer these and
other questions: What traits define a canopy specialist? What traits define
a local canopy avifauna? What are the differences and similarities of canopy
bird communities at different sites and what are the ultimate factors defining
the composition of canopy bird assemblages? My work has been funded by the
US Agency for International Development (USAID) MIRA project, the Cleveland
Metroparks Zoo, and the LSU Museum of Natural Science.
link to my preliminary USAID report
link to my LSU
website for more information
Adam
Narish – Boise State University
Diurnal raptors of cloud forest fragments
Adam is in a Master’s
program at BSU and is also climbing into the forest canopy, but at various
cloud forest sites around Honduras. He is studying the ecological diversity
of birds of prey, under the guiding theory that raptors are important biological
indicators. I expect to have more info from Adam shortly.
Sheri
Glowinski Matamoros – University of Southern Mississippi
Nearctic migrant stopover ecology
Sheri began her
doctoral studies at Southern Mississippi with two wonderful projects in
Honduras. She started with a mist-netting program on the Bay Island of Utila
in the fall of 2005 to assess the stopover ecology of Nearctic migrants.
Not only does she have lots of data on migrating and resident songbirds,
she documented the abundance of the endemic subspecies of Plain Chachalaca
(Ortalis vetula deschauenseei), once thought to be extinct by many
authorities, and probably a legitimate species in its own right. Sheri is
in the process of scouting additional funding to follow up her Utila study
and to further investigate habitat use of chachalacas on the island and
conduct molecular studies to determine if the Utila chachalaca warrants
full species status. After Utila Sheri followed with a mist-netting program
in La Tigra National Park, also focusing on stopover ecology. Cloud forest
is a fast disappearing habitat, and Sheri is interested in comparing diversity
of both migrants and residents at other cloud forest sites in Honduras.
This study provided the most in-depth data on abundances of resident and
migrant birds for any cloud forest site in Honduras. The USAID MIRA project
and the Wildlife Conservation Society funded Sheri’s work.
link to Sheri’s USAID Utila
report
link to Sheri’s USAID
La Tigra report
Melinda
Welton – Gulf Coast Bird Observatory
David Anderson – Louisiana State University
Cerulean Warbler stopover ecology
Melinda and I are studying the stopover ecology of Cerulean Warblers in
Central America. The Cerulean Warbler winters in northern South America,
and only touches down in Central America for a few weeks in the fall and
spring each year during its long migration. Before we started this project
almost nothing was known about where the birds were found during their brief
stopover, habitat usage, and general ecology. We have been working in Honduras,
Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico since 1994 to document their distribution,
timing of migration, and ecology.
Adán
Flores – Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras
Bird diversity in Pacific Coast wetlands
Adán is a young Honduran biologist who undertook an intensive inventory
of birds in aquatic and marsh habitats in the Golfo de Fonseca (Pacific
coast) region of Honduras. This work is important because there are few
inventories for the region, and Adán reported on some species that
are relatively recent additions to the Honduran avifauna, like American
White Pelican, and others that are notably rare, such as Cinnamon Teal.
link to Adán’s USAID
Golfo de Fonseca report
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Robert
Hyman – The Explorer’s Club |
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