Author: Admin Paul

ProAves supports the Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea) in various ways. One avenue is through Grupo Cerúleo, which is developing a conservation strategy for the species on its non-breeding grounds. The Foundation participates through conservation and research in Colombia.

Grupo Cerúleo was formed in December 2002, to develop a conservation strategy for the Cerulean Warbler on its non-breeding grounds in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Known as the Non-breeding Season Group, it is a subcommittee of the Cerulean Warbler Technical Group (CWTG), which promotes a multi-species focus on wintering ground habitat conservation, including at-risk species that may coincide with the Cerulean Warbler.

The problems facing the species are related to the size and conditions of the non-breeding grounds and habitat changes on them. A solution is considered to be a priority for the future conservation of the species.

Fundación ProAves is part of this initiative, offering support through species conservation and research in Colombia.

Related news

Developing a Cerulean Warbler wintering Conservation Plan
Tuesday 22 January 2008.

American Bird Conservancy in collaboration with ProAves-Colombia, ECOAN – Peru and Jocotoco-Ecuador are leading the design of a draft version of a Cerulean Warbler Conservation Plan for this species in its wintering areas.

Cerulean Warbler Working Group visits Colombia
Thursday 11 October 2007.

Colombia will be hosting the 2008 Cerulean Warbler Technical Group meeting and members of the group visited San Vicente de Chucurí, Santander, where part of the meeting will be held.

Tuesday 22 January 2008.

American Bird Conservancy in collaboration with ProAves-Colombia, ECOAN – Peru and Jocotoco-Ecuador are leading the design of draft version of a Cerulean Warbler Conservation Plan for this species in its wintering areas.

Coffee and coffee plantations in the mountains of Colombia.

This initiative is part of the conservation actions of Cerulean Group, which is a subcommittee of Cerulean Warbler Technical Group. The main goal is to develop further ideas based on studies carried out by members of the Group, considering the wintering season in the Northern South America.

ProAves would like to invite everybody interest to be part of this plan to participate in the next two meetings where the drafts of the conservation plan will be revised. The first meeting will take place on February 12, 2008, in McAllen, Texas (Frontera Office Audubon, 1101S Texas Blvd, Weslaco, TX, 78596), and the second meeting will be held in October 21-25, 2008, at Bogotá D. C and San Vicente de Chucurí, Colombia, a part of the III Cerulean Warbler Technical Group Summit, where a final version of the plan is expected to be produced.

Click here for more information of the meetings.

Una nueva especie de mariposa que sólo se encuentra en las montañas de la Serranía de los Yariguíes, en Colombia, fue descubierta por Blanca Huertas y John Jairo Arias durante una de las expediciones del Proyecto EBA (Evaluación de la Biodiversidad de los Andes) de la Fundación ProAves, en el año 2005.

Una nueva especie de mariposa que sólo se encuentra en las montañas de la Serranía de los Yariguíes, en Colombia, fue descubierta por Blanca Huertas y John Jairo Arias durante una de las expediciones del Proyecto EBA (Evaluación de la Biodiversidad de los Andes) de la Fundación ProAves, en el año 2005.

{Idioneurula donegani} fue encontrada en un páramo a 3000 metros de altitud en los picos más altos de la Serranía de los Yariguíes, una cadena montañosa localizada en la cordillera Oriental de Colombia, en la parte correspondiente al departamento de Santander. El sitio donde el equipo encontró la nueva especie no había sido explorado antes y se encuentra tan aislado que para llegar a él los investigadores tuvieron que hacerlo viajando en helicóptero.

La mariposa es endémica de los Yariguíes y se caracteriza por su tamaño pequeño a mediano, y su color café marrón con manchas como “ojos” sobre sus alas posteriores.

“Esperamos que este descubrimiento contribuya a la conservación de la Serranía”, declaró Huertas, quien es miembro de Fundación ProAves y trabaja como curadora de mariposas del Museo de Historia Natural de Londres. Y agregó: “Las mariposas son un grupo diverso de insectos con casi 20.000 especies conocidas, el 40 por ciento de las cuales se encuentran en Suramérica. Aunque varias regiones en Colombia permanecen todavía sin explorar, ocasionalmente es posible descubrir una nueva especie”.

El nombre de la nueva especie fue puesto en honor del ornitólogo y conservacionista Thomas Donegan, miembro del Consejo Directivo de ProAves y quien, con Huertas, es uno de los líderes de las expediciones a la Serranía de los Yariguíes.

Las expediciones del proyecto EBA de ProAves contaron con el apoyo de BP Conservation Award, Royal Geographical Society, Becas “El Mono” Hernández y otros donantes mencionados en los informes de la expedición, y contribuyeron a la creación del Parque Nacional Natural Serranía de los Yariguíes y al establecimiento de una de las reservas de ProAves, la [{{Reserva Natural de las Aves Reinita Cielo Azul.}}->https://www.proaves.org/rubrique.php?id_rubrique=78]

La descripción de la nueva especie fue publicada este mes en la revista Zootaxa y puede ser consultada [{{en línea}}->http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2007f/zt01652p040.pdf].

Para consultar los informes del proyecto EBA, visite la página web de ProAves:

https://www.proaves.orghttps://www.proaves.org/images/stories/IMG//recursos/IMG/pdf/Colombian_EBA_Proyect_Report_Series_7-3.pdf

https://www.proaves.orghttps://www.proaves.org/images/stories/IMG//recursos/IMG/pdf/EBA_5_Serrania_de_los_Yariguies_report_2005.pdf

Wednesday 5 December 2007.

After four years of ringing, the Migratory Bird Monitoring and Conservation Program informs the first captures of specimens ringed by this program in Colombia.

The recaptured Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

The first bird is an adult Rose-breasted Grosbeak, captured alive on May 10, 2007, at the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory, next to Lake Ontario, Canada. It had been ringed with number C00335 on April 16, 2004, that is, three years ago, in a dry forest located in Montesión, an area surrounding the Tayrona National Natural Park in Magdalena, Colombia.

With its capture it is assumed that the specimen has been travelling at least 24 days during spring seasons at an average rate of 50 miles per day and 1740 per migration, and that it has migrated at least four times during fall and winter. On the other hand, a Blue Grosbeak was found dead in August, 2007, in South Carolina, United States. It had been captured and ringed on October 30, 2005, in San Andrés island (Colombian Caribbean).

Reporting the capture of birds, dead or alive, is of great importance, since bird-ringing efforts can compensate for information gaps on the ecology of migratory birds all along its range.

With the support of:

El pasado 26 de junio de 2008, Carlos Daniel Cuy, de 13 años de edad, habitante del municipio de Cajamarca, Tolima, Colombia, le entregó al {{[Loro Bus->https://www.proaves.org/rubrique.php?id_rubrique=345]}} su cauchera a cambio de una publicación sobre aves. “Me comprometo a no matar más animales ni con cauchera ni con la mano”, dijo.

El pasado 26 de junio de 2008, Carlos Daniel Cuy, de 13 años de edad y estudiante de 6 grado del colegio Ismael Perdomo, del municipio de Cajamarca, Tolima, Colombia, le entregó al {{[Loro Bus->https://www.proaves.org/rubrique.php?id_rubrique=345]}} su cauchera a cambio de una publicación sobre aves. “Me comprometo a no matar más animales ni con cauchera ni con la mano”, dijo, cuando se le pregunto qué compromiso estaba dispuesto a hacer por la naturaleza en ese momento tan importante.

Carlos Daniel se encontraba de vacaciones en el municipio de Génova, departamento del Quindío, Colombia, en el momento en que el Loro Bus realizaba un recorrido por varias de las reservas naturales de ProAves en los departamentos de Antioquia, Quindío y Tolima, en el marco del programa Vacaciones Recreativas y Ambientales, organizado por ProAves, que incluía la una nueva parada de la campaña {{[Entrega tu Cauchera->https://www.proaves.org/rubrique.php?id_rubrique=349]}}.

El niño le contó al equipo de Educación Ambiental de la Fundación que hacía dos años utilizaba caucheras para matar pajaritos y que cuando se dañaban por algún motivo, fabricaba otras o utilizaba piedras. Dijo que lo hacía por el gusto de pegarles a los pajaritos, por diversión, por verlos caer y por afinar su puntería.

{{}}

Luego de que participó en las actividades de educación ambiental de la Fundación, el equipo propuso, como a todos los niños de la zona que usan caucheras, cambiar la suya por una guía de bolsillo sobre aves. Con la entrega de este tipo de publicaciones, ProAves, y gracias al apoyo de Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund, les muestra la importancia de tener en la casa materiales educativos, como libros, en vez de elementos nocivos.

Al día siguiente, y como muestra de su compromiso, Carlos Daniel llevó a varios de sus amigos, que tenían caucheras o pistolas de balines, a que las cambiaran por una guía de bolsillo.

“Entrega tu cauchera por amor a las aves”, es el eslogan de la campaña y es el mensaje que les quedó a los habitantes que en Génova, Quindío, le dijeron sí a esta iniciativa.

Hay cientos de niños como Carlos Daniel Cuy en Colombia, acostumbrados a matar aves en pleno vuelo con caucheras o pistolas de balines pero que gracias a la sensibilización que realiza la Fundación ProAves, están mirando su entorno con otros ojos.

Con el apoyo de:

Dos nuevas ranas de la familia Dendrobatidae fueron descubiertas por Alonso Quevedo de ProAves y Oscar Gallego de la Universidad del Tolima, en la Cordillera Central, en el departamento del Tolima. Son {Ranitomeya tolimense }y{ Ranitomeya doriswansoni}, descrita hace varios meses.

Dos nuevas ranas de la familia Dendrobatidae fueron descubiertas por Alonso Quevedo de ProAves y Oscar Gallego de la Universidad del Tolima, en la Cordillera Central, en el departamento del Tolima. Son {Ranitomeya tolimense }y{ Ranitomeya doriswansoni}, descrita hace varios meses.

Los hallazgos fueron realizados en julio de 2006 cuando el equipo de investigadores buscaba aves amenazadas de la Cordillera Central.

{Ranitomeya tolimense} es de color amarillo principalmente, mientras que{ Ranitomeya doriswansoni} es negra y roja y tiene el quinto dedo de los pies minúsculo.

Al respecto de estas nuevas especies, Alonso Quevedo, Presidente de ProAves, declaró: “Existe una gran preocupación por la conservación de estas ranas y de muchas otras especies de fauna y flora de la región, porque en ella no hay ningún área protegida y se ejerce una fuerte presión sobre los ecosistemas debido a la ampliación de los cultivos de café”.

La descripción de {Ranitomeya tolimense} se realizó en conjunto con los expertos Manuel Hernando Bernal y Víctor Fabio Luna-Mora, quienes, junto con Óscar Gallego, forman parte del Laboratorio de Herpetología y Eco-Fisiología, Grupo de Investigación en Zoología, de la Universidad del Tolima. El artículo fue publicado el 14 de noviembre de 2007 en la revista Zootaxa.

La descripción de {Ranitomeya doriswansoni }fue hecha en conjunto con José Vicente Rueda-Almonacid, Marco Rada, Santiago J. Sánchez-Pacheco y Álvaro Andrés Velásquez-Álvarez, de Conservación Internacional Colombia, en el 2006 y también fue publicada en Zootaxa.

Tuesday 4 December 2007.

Coverage by local, national and international media had a perfect finale through the great front page article about the festival, which was published by “El Tiempo,” the most prominent newspaper in Colombia.

Examples of coverage by TV, printed media and the Internet.

Altogether, more than 32 documents were published, including:

Twelve articles on Colombian websites and 3 on foreign websites.
A story by the TV news report at noon on the “Caracol” channel, which reached the entire Colombian territory.
Two newspaper articles: one on the front page of “El Tiempo,” and a second one on a local journal.
An interview broadcasted nationwide by RCN Radio.
An interview for Teleproductions, a company which edits radio shows for a number of stations in Latin America.
One article on the “Catorce,6” national magazine.
A story by the TV news reports at noon and at night on Canal Capital, which reached Bogotá.
One interview on Todelar, a radio station in Bogotá.
Four shows: one on the radio and one on TV in the municipality of Jardín (Department of Antioquia).
Two presentations on TV and two on the radio in San Andrés island (apart from the webpage note mentioned above).
One radio show in Ocaña, Norte de Santander.

A PDF file at the end of this summary has been attached for information on most of the materials printed or available online.

With the support of:

Migratory Bird Festival 2007 in the media
PDF – 2.6·Mb

Monday 3 December 2007.

The 3rd Advanced Banding Course by ProAves was carried out from October 19 to October 29, 2007 at the El Dorado Bird Reserve; 21 students from Nicaragua, Panamá, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia attended, as well as four expert ringers and instructors from Colombia.

Latin American Integration Attendants to the III Advanced Banding Course at the El Dorado Bird Reserve in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. The work setting facilitated the main objective of the course: to reinforce and study in depth the concepts of age and sex identification, as well as a number of ringing techniques for resident and migratory birds in the Sierra Nevada. Additionally, attendants studied techniques for capturing, handling, ringing and processing hummingbirds. Among the most outstanding achievements were: The capture and ringing of 376 specimens belonging to 17 families and 70 species, and the outstanding presence of migratory, endangered and/or endemic species of interest like Golden-winged Warbler, Blossomcrown, Santa Marta Mountain-Tanager and Santa Marta Brush-Finch. The detailed observation of both the level and the progress of each one of the participants, whose level was evaluated by the end of the course: three assistant ringers, fifteen ringers, and three advanced ringers who can perform as trainers, thanks to their higher level of experience. With this course, ProAves keeps strengthening the technical abilities of field ornithologists in Colombia and Latin America.

Wednesday 5 December 2007.

After eight years of work in Tolima, the Ognorhynchus Project has achieved in 2007 two unprecedented records: the finding of 52 Yellow-eared Parrot active nests in April, and of 132 chicks between May and June.

Yellow-eared Parakeet active nest.

The highest record of active nests in this project, which is supported by Loro Parque Fundación, had just been 25. This increase in the number of occupied nests is due to the current number of cavities in dead Quindío Wax Palm trees. Since it is thought that in time there will be a decrease in this opportunity, the project has focused its efforts on providing artificial nests for this species, as well as on the recuperation of its habitat through reforestation with Wax Palm trees.

In May there were chicks in 70% of the nests, and in the remaining 30% eggs were being hatched. Additionally, copulations were observed and prospective new nests were explored.

Yellow-eared Parakeet breeding area.

The findings were done by the project’s field assistants, who pointed out that the nests were found in eight nesting areas, which is good news for the conservation of this species, because it is an indication that it is exploring new areas. Compared to the last season, there was a forty percent increase in the number of active nests in the area, and there was a much higher food supply.

If you want to help prevent the extinction of one parrot species in Colombia, including the Yellow-eared Parrot, you can do it through the program Adopt a nest box, by sponsoring the construction and installation of an artificial nest and its monitoring and maintenance during a year.

With the suppor of:

Rhamphophryne macrorhina is a kind of buffoon who inhabits montane forests north of the central cordillera of Colombia, is mainly active in the forest floor among the leaf litter and low vegetation. It is currently classified under the category of threat as vulnerable (VU), and appears to be facing conservation problems due mainly to the intervention on forest patches in which it dwells (Castro Herrera, 2004).

Friday 26 October 2007.

The Migratory Bird Festival began with a symbolic welcome in the Bogotá Botanical Gardens on October 5 2007 with the company of the institutions that support this initiative lead by ProAves.

Birdwatching, dances and environmental education at the Parrot Bus.

Emotive words encouraging conservation were directed to the children by the Secretaria Distrital de Ambiente, Martha Perdomo, the director of the Bogotá Botanical Gardens, Rolando Higuita, and the representatives of Conservation International, Ángel Guarnizo, of Partners of America, Néstor Benavides and María Consuelo Lara, and the Director of Environmental Awareness of ProAves, Madeleine Tolosa. After that an educative convention was signed with Partners of America in benefit of the Batavia School.

Then, the place was decorated by the traditional dresses of the Grupo Experimental Vivan las Aves -directed by the teachers Mónica González and Angela Chávez from the Batavia School – hand-painted with images of migratory birds.

Traditional dresses painted with images of Cerulean Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Canadian Warbler and Olive-sided Flycatcher.

At the ceremonies end, the assistants visited five education stands by the Parrot Bus, Red de Humedales de la Sabana de Bogotá, Asociación Bogotana de Ornitología, Colegio Integrado de Fontibón, and Misión Bogotá.

Also present was the rector of the Colegio Integrado de Fontibón, Pablo Robayo, the representative of the Secretaría de Educación, María Eufemia Lozano, and the students of the Institución Educativa INJUP and Colegio Integrado de Fontibón.

The Festival is being held in 11 departments and also in Perú and Ecuador in association with ECOAN and Fundacion Jocotoco, and has the support of American Bird Conservancy and NMBCA.

Friday 26 October 2007.

Last August 2007 the 4th Blue-billed Curassow Festival was held in the municipality of Puerto Pinzón and two surrounding towns in the department of Boyacá, in the Magdalena valley, with the slogan: “Let’s protect the Blue-billed Curassow, a Critically Endangered species!! Join this initiative by ProAves!”

Materials produced by children for the 4th Blue-billed Curassow Festival.

Twenty three workshops and leisure, sportive and environmental activities were conducted for more than 800 participants, including the development and delivery of informative material, reforestation with the group “Amigos de las Aves” and media promotion. Also, the municipality of Puerto Pinzón contributed with a kite festival and a Blue-billed Curassow championship, among other activities.

Reforestation, crafts and a closure parade.

One of the great achievements of this festival is spreading it to other key areas for the species in the Magdalena valley, such as the towns of La Arenosa and Quince Letras and obtaining the support from the municipality of Puerto Boyacá and other institutions interested in the environmental problems of the region.

These achievements would not have been possible without the support of:

Con el fin de cualificar en ecoturismo a los miembros de las comunidades donde ProAves tiene sus reservas naturales, 25 jóvenes participaron en el Primer Curso de Capacitación de Ecoguías.

Con el fin de cualificar en ecoturismo a los miembros de las comunidades donde ProAves ha establecido sus reservas naturales y de vincularlos a los procesos de conservación que se adelantan desde dichas áreas, del 22 al 24 de junio de 2007 se llevó a cabo en la {{[Reserva Natural de las Aves El Pangán->https://www.proaves.org/rubrique.php?id_rubrique=6] }}el Primer Curso de Capacitación de Ecoguías.

Participaron 25 jóvenes de ambos sexos, quienes recibieron instrucción sobre temas como ecoturismo, aviturismo, guianza, manejo de grupos y expresión en público, la cual fue impartida por el Sena de Tumaco, Nariño. Como complemento, los jóvenes participaron en el {{[VI Curso de Técnicas de Monitoreo de Aves->https://www.proaves.org/article.php?id_article=324].}}

El grupo provenía de los municipios de Santa Marta (Magdalena), Ocaña (Norte de Santander), San Vicente de Chucurí (Santander), Jardín (Antioquia), Génova (Quindío), Puerto Boyacá (Boyacá) y Barbacoas (Nariño).

ProAves cuenta ahora con un valioso grupo de ecoguías de la comunidad local, capacitados para recibir en las reservas a las personas que las visitan y quienes reconocen la importancia de estas áreas protegidas y de conservar la fauna y la flora local.

Con el apoyo de:

The species at the time Oophaga histrionica is not listed under the categories of threat, though belonging to the family of poison dart frogs are brightly colored and present considered key players in the illegal trafficking of species. This condition coupled with the above factors show the need to assess the populations of this species in Colombia and generate information to advance the protection and conservation actions.

Friday 26 October 2007.

For the second time, biologists from ProAves were trained on bird monitoring techniques in the United Kingdom thanks to the support from The Wetland Trust and the British Trust for Ornithology.

Between July 14 and August 23, 2007, Andrea Pacheco and Juan Carlos Luna received training at the monitoring station of The Wetland Trust in Icklesham, near the town of Hasting, on the southern coast of England.

Andrea Pacheco and Juan Carlos Luna also participated in a rehabilitation program for waterfowl, like these young Mute Swans.

During intensive training over the whole period, they were involved in the banding of more than 2,600 birds, operating 990 meters of mist-netting (55 nets). The average daily catch was 350 individuals with different methods and techniques.

The course enabled the two participants to interact with bird banders from England, France, Germany, Spain and Peru. This further, contributed to increasing the level of quality of bird banding by ProAves staff. There are now a total of six staff members that have received international training, including Diana Velasco, Ana María González, Camila Gómez, and María Isabel Moreno.

With the support of:

Lepidopyga lilliae is a species of which little is known except for some records in the departments of Atlántico, Guajira and Magdalena, which has been observed within the mature mangrove forests, xeric vegetation and riparian forests adjacent to these (Renjifo  et al. 2002) and in areas of fruit crops (Fiorenzano Ayala 2003), although most of these records have been inside the mature mangrove forests, it is unknown to what extent the species is dependent on this habitat (M. Parra Agudelo 2002), in addition to the above, it is unknown the current size of their populations, which are believed to have declined since the mid 70’s due to habitat destruction ( Renjifo et al. 2002).

González Brun., P.C. 2007. Evaluation of population status of the Sapphire-bellied Hummingbird (Lepidopyga lilliae) in the central sector of the Vía Salamanca Island National Park, Department of Magdalena, Colombia. See summary here.

Vergara Gil., J.D. 2007. Assessment Cienaguera population status of the Sapphire-bellied Hummingbird (Lepidopy galilliae) in the western area of Via Salamanca Island National Park, Department of Magdalena, Colombia. See summary here.

Thursday 11 October 2007.

At the end of August, members of the Cerulean Warbler Group visited the area of San Vicente de Chucurí, Santander, where part of the 2008 Cerulean Warbler Technical Group summit will be held. For the first time this group will meet in an area where the species occurs in Latin America. Its purpose is to review proposed conservation actions for the species in non-reproductive areas.

Cerulean Warbler Group members in Colombia Cerulean Group representatives at the Cerulean Warbler Bird Reserve with members of Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia, ProAves, and the municipality of San Vicente de Chucurí, Santander.

To promote San Vicente de Chucurí as main location, ProAves gathered in its Cerulean Warbler Bird Reserve local actors interested in providing a friendly environment for birds. There where present representatives of the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia, coffee growers of Santander department’s coffee program, Fundación Natura, Fedecacao, and the Municipality of San Vicente de Chucurí.

Guests visited Rainforest Alliance certified farms and cacao growing process, and birdwatching through the reserve’s forest.

San Vicente is one of the most important wintering areas for the Cerulean Warbler and there is a high possibility to see the species there. Specific conservation actions, environmental-friendly programs, and ecotourism focused on the Cerulean Warbler are contributing to ensure the conservation of the species.