ANALYSIS OF THE HISTORICAL AND PRESENT DISTRIBUTION OF THE YELLOW CARDINAL (Gubernatrix cristata) IN ARGENTINA

REALES, C. F.; SARQUIS, J. A.; DARDANELLI, SEBASTIÁN; LAMMERTINK, J. M.

Congreso; Ornithological Congress of the Americas; 2017

Asociation of Field Ornithologists; Sociedad Brasilera de Ornitologia & Aves Argentinas

The Yellow Cardinal (Gubernatrix cristata) is found in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina in thorn forest habitats and savannas. Historically the major part of the distribution of the Yellow Cardinal was in Argentina in the Espinal ecoregion and its transition zones with the Monte and Chaco ecoregions. In recent decades its populations have declined precipitously because of habitat loss resulting from an expansion of the agricultural frontier and the intensive pressure of capturing of the species for the cage bird market, resulting in its inclusion on the IUCN Red List as globally Endangered in 1994. Our objective wasto contrast the historical and current distribution of the Yellow Cardinal with records starting from 1826 until present. We used 506 historical and current records from a revision of bibliography, museum specimens, internet resources, personal communications and our own fieldwork. Maps were generated with QGis 2.16 software. We found a marked reduction from the original distribution to areas where well-preserved areas of thorn forest remain. With this assessment, we contribute information about the current distribution of the species, which can be used to develop management and conservation plans for the habitat of the Yellow Cardinal which are urgently needed to complement actions for its conservation in Argentina.