Welcome to the blog for our project “Crossing the Caribbean: Identifying critical fuelling sites for Neotropical migrants in northern Colombia”. Here you will find information (see ‘English Content’ link) and updates from the field, including capture totals of migratory birds. Although updates are in Spanish, English summaries will be added regularly. This project is run by SELVA and financed by The Rufford Small Grants Foundation, Environment Canada and Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

If you wish to cite any of the information in this blog please consult the advice under contacto/contact us. Reproduction of any of the data or photos included on this site requires strict written permission from SELVA.

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We are pleased to announce the release of a technical report that presents results from our first year of monitoring migration in the Darién of Colombia. The report includes observation and mist-netting totals for all migrants recorded during spring and fall migration 2011. Currently the report is only available in Spanish but we hope to release an English version soon.

La migración de golondrinas comenzó en Agosto y continuó hasta Noviembre, sin embargo, mostró un pico claro entre el 25 de Septiembre y el 15 de Octubre. A diferencia con el patrón general de las golondrinas, Hirundo rusitca mostró un pico adicional al final de Octubre. En contraste, Tyrannus tyrannus comenzó a migrar antes de nuestra llegada al principio de Septiembre y la mayoría de aves habían pasado antes de la mitad de Octubre, con un pico de movimiento entre la mitad y el final de Septiembre. Las dos especies más comunes de rapaces empezaron a migrar al principio de Octubre, con la mayoría de Buteo platypterus pasando en la mitad de Octubre, mientras las Cathartes aura fueron más abundantes al fin de Octubre y durante Noviembre. Se puede ver algunos de estos patrones en los gráficos abajo. Es importante tener en cuenta que las fenologías de los gráficos no han sido corregidas por esfuerzo de muestreo y por lo tanto son solo una aproximación al patrón real.

Vale la pena mencionar algunas otras especies en migración sobre Sapzurro en el Darién . Aunque Spiza americana es una especie de llanos y hábitats agrícolas, fue registrada migrando sobre los bosques del Darién casi todos los días y regularmente hicieron una pausa en el área, ocasionalmente perchandose en el dosel o alimentándose en áreas abiertas asociadas a pequeños humedales costeros. Chaetura pelagica es una especie para la cual no se conoce bien su estatus y ruta de migración a través de Colombia, debido a la dificultad de separarla de otras especies de vencejos del genero Chaetura. A pesar de esto, sin duda un gran 0porcentaje de la población mundial de esta especie pasa por el país. Nuestros resultados sugieren que vale la pena poner atención al paso de vencejos al final de Octubre y al principio de Noviembre para aumentar nuestro conocimiento sobre esta especie.

Finalmente, debemos destacar el número de aves registradas en el Darién este otoño. Con solo dos investigadores y un observador casual, alcanzamos a contar casi medio millón de aves y, sin duda, con un mayor esfuerzo de observación habría sido posible registrar más de un millón de aves. Además de ser números impresionantes, estas cifras también demuestran la importancia de esta región para las aves migratorias y la necesidad de integrar la protección de los hábitats utilizadas por las aves migratorias en los planes de manejo que diseñan las comunidades dueñas de estas tierras y el estado Colombiano. Nuestros resultados también soportan la propuesta de varias entidades de crear un parque nacional en la Serranía del Darién, el cual idealmente formaría un corredor entre la frontera Panameña y el Parque Nacional Los Katíos.

English summary: One of the most impressive spectacles in the Darién during this autumn’s migration was the visible migration of thousands of raptors and hirundines heading south through this bottleneck between Central and South America. In the table below are the final totals for the main species involved in visible migration between September and November 2011, including additional sightings sent to us by our project partners, Martha and Fabio, from the Tacarcuna reserve during November. The table clearly highlights that the principal species involved were three species of hirundine, Cliff, Barn and Bank Swallows, the Eastern Kingbird, and two species of raptor, Turkey Vulture and Broad-winged Hawk.

The migration of swallows began in August and continued right through the season, however, there was a clear peak between the 25th September and the 15th October, while Barn Swallow showed a late peak at the end of October. In contrast, Eastern Kingbirds began moving before our arrival in early September and the majority of birds had passed through by mid-October, with most birds passing in mid to late September. The two commonest species of raptor began moving in early October, with the majority of Broad-winged Hawks migrating through in mid-October, while Turkey Vultures were most abundant in late October and throughout November. Some of these patterns can be seen in the graphs below. It is important to note that these phenologies have not been corrected for effort and are therefore only an approximation to the actual timing of migration.

A number of other species migrating over Sapzurro in the Darién are also worth mentioning. Despite being a species associated with grasslands and agricultural habitats, Dickcissels were recorded most days migrating over the forests of the  Darién and they regularly paused their migration in the area, occasionally perching in the canopy or feeding in open areas around small coastal wetlands. Chimney Swift is a species whose status and migration route through Colombia is poorly known due the difficulty of separating it from other Chaetura swifts but no doubt a considerable percentage of the World population of this species passes through the country. Our results, suggest that paying attention to swifts in late October and early November anywhere in the country could increase our knowledge of this species.

Finally, the number of birds migrating over the Darién should be highlighted. With just two researchers and casual observations made by Martha Rubio we managed to count nearly half a million birds and no doubt with more observer effort it would be possible to pass the million mark. In addition to being impressive numbers, these figures highlight the importance of this region to migratory birds and the need to integrate the protection of migratory bird habitats into the management plans of the communities that these lands belong to. Our results also support the proposal put forward by a number of organisations to create a National Park in the Serrania del Darién, which would ideally form a corridor from the Panama border to Katios National Park in the south.

SELVA extiende sus más sinceras felicitaciones a Maria Ángela y a Jenny por su excelente trabajo de investigación. La foto abajo muestra algunos de los ornitólogos colombianos que asistieron y participaron en el congreso, con Jenny y Maria Ángela al frente, durante la noche de la premiación.

English summary: The Neotropical Ornithological Conference in Peru was attended by an excellent cross-section of the ornithological community in Colombia and the numerous presentations and posters highlighted the high quality of research being conducted in Colombia today. It was particularly pleasing to see two Colombian students awarded first and second place in the competition for the best student presentation, with their excellent presentations on the advantages of foraging in mixed flocks  by Jenny Muñoz and on moult in relation to the life cycle of Neotropical species by Maria Ángela Echeverry.

Nos agrada compartir aquí la primera publicación resultado de esta alianza, y primera publicaición científica con datos del proyecto Cruzando el Caribe:

Gonzalez, A. M. K. A. Hobson, N. J. Bayly & C. Gómez. (2011). Geographic origins and timing of fall migration of the Veery in Northern Colombia. The Condor 113 (4): 860 – 868. PDF

English summary: We are pleased to announce the first publication from Crossing the Caribbean in alliance with Environment Canada and Ana Maria Gonzalez from the University of Saskatchewan. This study forms part of an initiative with Keith Hobson and Ana Maria Gonzalez to determine the geographic origins of migratory birds at stopover sites, in order to determine the routes used by different populations and degree of connectivity between breeding ground and stopover sites.

Las rutas de migración en el interior de Colombia son tan desconocidas como las usadas para entrar al país. Por eso invitamos a todos los investigadores y observadores de aves a entrar sus observaciones en eBird (http://ebird.org/content/ebird/acerca) para que juntos podamos entender mejor las estrategias y distribución de las aves migratorias – un reto que ningún individuo u organización puede lograr solo.

Especies de aves migratorias observadas en el Parque Simon Bolivar el 21 Noviembre 2011

English summary: Although we are no longer in the field in the Darién or in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, there are still plenty of migrants passing through Colombia, as can be evidenced in Bogota’s larger urban parks. Today we recorded 16 Neotropical migrants in the Simon Bolivar Park, including an excellent number of Eastern Wood-Peewees (33) and even a Franklin’s Gull which would appear to be the first record for Bogota and possibly even the Eastern Andes.

English summary: We apologise for the lack of updates towards the end of the fall migration but having left the Darién we had to work like crazy to get everything ready for the Neotropical Ornithological Congress en Perú. Yesterday on the memorable date of 11/11/11, we presented three papers on the project. For the first time, we showed how both Gray-cheeked Thrush and Tennessee Warbler acumulate sufficient energy reserves in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta to fly all the way to North America without needing to stop again to fuel up. We also brought together evidence from geolocators, E-bird and our work in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Darién to determine the migratory strategy of the Veery. Finally, we demonstrated how the composition and abundance of migrants stopping over in the Sierra Nevada varies with altitude, year and between migrations. When we get back from Peru, we hope to get some summary statistics up on the blog for fall migration 2011.

Durante el recorrido en bote, estuvimos maravillados por la belleza del lugar y por la cantidad de aves que lo utilizan. Durante la mañana registramos más de 20,000 individuos de Cathartes aura muchos de los cuales utilizan estos mangles como dormidero en su paso por el Darién. Sin duda estos manglares ofrecen mucho a las aves migratorias y vale la pena investigar a fondo su función e importancia.

Agradecemos a Adriana Mayorquín, de Corpourabá, por permitirnos conocer este lugar mágico y esperamos poder trabajar en conjunto pronto.

A continuación compartimos un video filmado y editado por Fabio Jiménez y Martha Rubio, de la Reserva Tacarcuna, durante el paso de Cathartes aura sobre Sapzurro el 30 de Octubre:

Totales para conteos de migración visible en el Darién entre el 29 y 30 de Octubre

Tabla de capturas de aves migratorias en el Darién entre el 29 y 30 de Octubre

English summary: As October comes to a close, we are still catching good numbers of birds in the Darién, with a major arrival of Catharus thrushes on the 29th. Interestingly, Swainson’s Thrush was once again the commonest species, although Gray-cheeked Thrush was not far behind. There was also a late movement of Canada Warblers, while Bay-breasted Warbler continues to be the commonest warbler based on observations. Observations also highlighted a large movement of Turkey Vultures, with 13,000 birds counted on the 29th and 9,000 on the 30th. While these figures are not quite up to the remarkable 890,000 birds counted in Panama on the 27th October, the spectacle is no less stunning. Heavy overcast skies and plenty of rain have also produced some excellent movements of swallows, with nearly 10,000 Barn Swallows pulsing through.

Tabla de capturas de aves migratorias en el Darién entre el 26 y 28 de Octubre

English summary: With captures of Ovenbird and Kentucky Warbler, at times it has felt more like Central America than the gateway to South America. Nevertheless, with Catharus thrushes still dominating captures, the composition of migrants still has a distinctly South American feel. Also of note in these days was a good movement of Turkey Vultures yesterday, with nearly 5000 passing under heavily overcast skies, although today’s total was even better…more soon.