New avian sight records for Nicaragua, with notes on abundance, distribution and habitat use

Abstract

Not only has Nicaragua been largely overlooked in studies of avian distribution and ecology, general information on species richness is scarce and often outdated. Countrywide species lists range from 644 to 69510,20, much lower than for neighbouring countries13,27. A recent study added three new country records, Green Ibis Mesembrinibis cayennensis, Purple-throated Fruitcrow Querula purpurata and Tropical Mockingbird Mimus gilvus, and made important distributional records of several species31. In addition, Cooper’s Hawk Accipiter cooperii was reported for the first time in Nicaragua, when 41 individuals were sighted on southbound migration in 2001 and 19 individuals in 2002, along with incidental observations of Eastern Kingbird Tyrannus tyrannus4 . During habitat surveys in several areas of Nicaragua, we confirmed ten species not previously reported in the peer-reviewed literature. In addition, we report nine sightings of a species whose current range is reported as Costa Rica south to eastern Brazil. All locations mentioned are included in Fig. 1. Elevations are stated as metres above sea level. We cite observers by their initials, and the initials of observers other than the authors are given in the Acknowledgements.

Citation

McCrary, Jeffery K.; Arendt. Wayne J.; Morales, Salvadora; Arengi. Joseph T.; López, Lorenzo J. 2008. New avian sight records for Nicaragua, with notes on abundance, distribution and habitat use. Cotinga 29:102–107.