Intra-annual bird community dynamics in coastal environments of the

DARDANELLI, SEBASTIÁN ; CRISTÓBAL PIZARRO; RODRIGO MOLINA Y CHRISTOPHER ANDERSON

San Carlos de Bariloche

Congreso; VI Southern Connection Congress; 2010

Intra-annual bird community dynamics in coastal environments of the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve, Chile. Sebastián Dardanelli, Cristóbal Pizarro, Rodrigo Molina, y Christopher Anderson. Programa de Conservación Biocultural Subantártica ? Parque Etnobotánico Omora y Universidad de Magallanes ? Centro Universitario Puerto Williams, Chile. AbstractThe Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve (CHBR) houses the world?s southernmost forest and a great diversity of marine and coastal environments. In this place, birds constitute the most diverse and conspicuous group. For this reason in the CHBR a terrestrial bird monitoring program has been executed since January 2000. Beginning in February 2009, this program also includes shorebirds, constituting the Omora Bird Observatory. We performed 32 transects (16 in bays and 16 in exposed coasts; 800x200m each) on the north coast of Navarino Island during summer and winter. Total abundance was 985 birds in summer and 617 in winter. Species richness was 35 in summer and 36 in winter. In summer, Chloephaga picta (135 individuals), Calidris bairdii (111) and Lophonetta specularioides (83) were the most abundant species, while in winter  Charadrius modestus (84), L. specularioides (74) y Larus dominicanus (57) were the most abundant. The exposed coasts presented higher abundance, richness and diversity, but this pattern was different for some species; for example, L. specularioides was more common in bays in both seasons. C. modestus, classified as a migratory species, was recorded during summer and winter. Finally, some ?terrestrial? species such as Xolmis pyrope and Curaeus curaeus were recorded on the coast, but only in winter, indicating a seasonal refuge for some passerines. These preliminary results contribute to the poorly known ecology of the coastal avifauna in austral South America.