Distribution and habitat use of the yellow cardinal (Gubernatrix cristata) in Argentina and perspectives on its conservation

DOMINGUEZ, MARISOL

California

Conferencia; 20th Annual Society for Conservation GIS Conference; 2017

Society for Conservation GIS

The yellow cardinal, Gubernatrix cristata, is an endangered passerine from southern South America. Populations are declining due to continuous extraction of individuals, mainly males, to commercialize them as cage birds, and the loss of their natural habitat, which causes a discontinuous distribution. We present the results of searches for the Yellow Cardinal in Argentina during two population surveys in 2015 and 2016. The sites with the highest counts were San Luis (n = 11), Buenos Aires (n = 11) and Corrientes (n = 10). Some of the sightings carried out are new for some localities. For example, in the province of La Rioja there were no documented records of the species and in Sierra de las Quijadas National Park due to the absence of sightings for years the species was considered extinct within this protected area. We also model the potential distribution of the species, taking into account environmental variables, in order to investigate in the future the presence of the species in unstudied but suitable sites.