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Long-term decline of a winter-resident bird community in Puerto Rico

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Abstract

Despite concern expressed two decades ago, there has been little recent discussion about continuing declines of migrant bird populations. Monitoring efforts have been focused almost exclusively on the breeding grounds. We describe the long-term decline of a winter-resident bird population in Guánica Commonwealth Forest, Puerto Rico, one of the last remaining tracts of high-quality tropical dry forests in the Caribbean. The winter bird community has exhibited dramatic declines, with constant-effort mist netting now capturing about one-third as many birds as it did 20 years ago. Population estimates for the three most common species have declined dramatically, even though survival rates have remained constant, and other species are now virtually absent from a site where they once were fairly common. Although explanations for these declines are speculative, particularly because they involve multiple species, we argue that the strength and duration of these declines in well-preserved dry forest within a biosphere reserve should stimulate renewed discussion of migrant population trends and comparison with other recent monitoring activities.

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Abbreviations

AICc :

Akaike’s information criteria, corrected for small sample size

WNV:

West Nile Virus

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Acknowledgments

The US Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry supported this work. Versions of the manuscript were reviewed by the Avian Ecology Lab at MU; we thank many field assistants for their help. The long-term Guánica research is conducted in cooperation with the University of Puerto Rico.

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Author notes

  1. Judith D. Toms

    Present address: Eco-Logic Consulting, 3014 Craigowan Road, Victoria, BC, V9B 1M8, Canada

  2. Katie M. Dugger

    Present address: U.S. Geological Survey, Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, 104 Nash Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331-3803, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211-7400, USA

    John Faaborg & Judith D. Toms

  2. International Institute of Tropical Forestry, US Forest Service, Sabana Field Research Station, HC 2 Box 6205, Luquillo, PR, 00773, USA

    Wayne J. Arendt

  3. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, 104 Nash Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331-3803, USA

    Katie M. Dugger

  4. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Missouri, 302 ABNR, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    W. Andrew Cox

  5. DRNA-Bosque de Guánica, PO Box 1185, Guánica, PR, 00653-1185, USA

    Miguel Canals Mora

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  1. John Faaborg
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Correspondence to John Faaborg.

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Faaborg, J., Arendt, W.J., Toms, J.D. et al. Long-term decline of a winter-resident bird community in Puerto Rico. Biodivers Conserv 22, 63–75 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-012-0399-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-012-0399-7

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