Fourth simultaneous flamingo census in South America: preliminary results

PATRICIA MARCONI; ANA LAURA SUREDA; FELICITY ARENGO; SOL AGUILAR; NELSON AMADO; LUIS ALZA; OMAR ROCHA; RICARDO TORRES; FLAVIO MOSCHIONES; MARCELO ROMANO; HEBER SOSA; ENRIQUE DERLINDATI

Flamingo Bulletin

IUCN-SSC/Wetlands International-WWT

Lugar: Slimbridge; Año: 2011 vol. 18 p. 48 - 53

1680-1857

The fourth International Simultaneous Census (ISC) of flamingos in South America, conducted in 2010, included a comprehensive survey of 259 wetlands throughout the distribution range of both of the high Andes species, the Andean Phoenicoparrus andinus and Puna Flamingo P. jamesi, in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. At each wetland we recorded total flamingo counts, other waterbird species counts, resightings of banded flamingos, and we surveyed breeding sites. Total counts were 106,001 Puna Flamingos, 38,675 Andean Flamingos, 280,752 Chilean Flamingos Phoenicopterus chilensis, and 8,623 unidentified flamingos. Comparing censuses of similar coverage (ISC 05 and ISC 10), numbers of Andean and Puna Flamingos are similar. In contrast, there was a marked increase in Chilean Flamingos with the inclusion of lowland wetlands, especially MarChiquita-Bañados del Río Dulce and Laguna Llancanelo in ISC 2010. Both high-Andes flamingo species had similar distribution to prior censuses.