Thank you very much for your generous support in the past of the SalvaNATURA Bird-A-Thon, which supports the bird monitoring efforts at five banding stations in western El Salvador. The 2009 SalvaNATURA Bird-A-Thon will take place on October 17th and 18th. This year marks the 7th consecutive year that this event will take place. It seems each year that the bird-a-thon grows a little more and more, both in terms of donations and participation. Last year, there were 20 participants in 7 teams. Our teams set a new record of 300 species of birds recorded in two days!
Every year we strive to make this event more successful. First, it is important that we summarize to you again what we are doing within the monitoring program. We continue to carry out monthly monitoring at five sites (one in dry forest at Parque Nacional (PN) El Imposible, two sites in cloud forest and pine-oak at PN Montecristo, and two sites at PN Los Volcanes, in cloud forest and a coffee-finca), each a 12-ha parcel within core or buffer zones of a national park in El Salvador. We have banded and released over 14,000 migrant and resident birds at these sites since beginning the program in late 2003 and we share this data with the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) for their range-wide analysis of winter bird survival. The project has recorded 5 new species for the country. During 2007/2008, two new species were recorded for the country, Dendrocolaptes picumnus (Black-banded Woodcreeper) and Vireo griseus (White-eyed Vireo). In addition, SalvaNATURA´s Conservation Science Program continues to analyze data on both resident and migratory birds. One preliminary analysis based on our data includes:
A 5-year analysis of our data detected 21 of 84 terrestial species (25%) are showing significant population declines, while only 1 species (1%) showed an increase. Further, similar proportions of resident (24%) and of migrant species (28%) are in decline. At Montecristo, 24% of resident and 18% of migrant species showed patterns of decline over the last 4 years. This data helps us to recognize which species are in trouble, to study the reasons why these species are being affected, and how to construct a management plan. As of now, we are not sure why these species are in decline, but for this reason it is important to continue with the monitoring work. One species that is showing a decline is Lampornis viridipallens, and another that is showing an increase is Turdus assimilis (both species are found at monitoring sites in Montecristo and Los Volcanes National Parks).
As you know, the key to any population analysis is long-term, continuous studies. This is exactly the purpose of the monitoring program (every month, every year), but we need your support to accomplish this! Please consider making a donation to our bird-a-thon, sponsoring us in the field on a per species pledge basis, or by directly participating yourself...in El Salvador! See the end of the blogsite on how to make a donation. We are always in need of team members to participate in the bird-a-thon. In the past, we have had team members from Massachusetts, Texas, South Carolina, England and Germany. Let us know if you are interested.
We are hoping to raise a total of $25,000 (not including institutional grant funds we expect to receive through Institute for Bird Populations). These funds will help us maintain the stations (including the mist nets), keep three full time biologists on staff, and involve more than 15 students and volunteers in the project.
Please let us now if you are able to help us reach our goal this year. We will be in contact again in September to request your pledge. Thank you very much; we greatly appreciate your support.
