Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Ornithological information With Altos de Campana National Park, the area is the easternmost outlier of the Talamanca Highlands. The area is estimated to have a threshold population of Black Guan. The area contains 4 of 11 species (36%) of the Central American Caribbean Slope EBA. Several nationally threatened species and a few endemics of the Costa Rica and Panama Highlands EBA also occur.

Site description This IBA includes the remaining forests to the north of the town of El Valle de Antón, which is surrounded by the caldera of an extinct volcano. The area includes the peaks of Cerros Gaital (1,185 m) and Peludo (1,185 m), the high points, as well as Turega (900 m), Valle Chiquito (1,120 m) and San Andrés (1,026 m). The area forms the upper watersheds of the Estancia, Antón, Farallón, Las Guías and Mata Ahogado Rivers on the Pacific slope and the San Miguel, Indio and Cirí Grande on the Caribbean. The town of El Valle is a popular tourist destination and easily accessible by road.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Protected areas

Protected area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
Cerro Gaital	Natural Monument	240	protected area contained by site	500

Habitats

Land use

Other biodiversity Mammals probably include Central American Wooly Opossum, Silky Anteater, Geoffroy's Tamarin, Ocelot and Jaguarundi. Reptiles and amphibians include the frogs and toads Bufo coccifer, Minyobates minutus, Phyllomedusa lemur, and Eleutherodactylus punctariolus; the salamander Bolitoglossa schizodactyla, the caecilian Caecilia volcani, the lizards Anadia ocellata and Morunasaurus groi, and the snakes Rhadinaea vermiculaticeps, Sibon annulata, Urotheca guentheri, and Micrurus stewarti. The toad Atelopus zeteki formerly occurred but has been extirpated (R. Ibáñez pers. com).

Management considerations Much of the forest in the El Valle area has been disturbed and fragmented for agriculture, and deforestation is likely to be a continuing problem. The forests of the Cirí Grande drainage in the northeast is part of the Panama Canal watershed and thus of economic value for canal operations. Recently a new housing development was constructed in Altos del María in the eastern part of the area.

Protection status Cerro Gaital and adjacent areas (335 ha) was declared a Nature Monument in 2001. However, the area is to small to be effective for protection of most of the wildlife found there.

Conservation response None known.

References Angehr, George R. 2003. Directorio de areas importantes para aves en Panama. Directory of important bird areas in Panama. Panama: Sociedad Audubon de Panama. Ridgely, Robert S., and John A. Gwynne. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Panama (Second Edition). Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Wetmore, Alexander. 1965. The Birds of the Republic of Panama. Part 1. Tinamidae (Tinamous) to Rhynchopidae (Skimmers). Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. Wetmore, Alexander. 1968. The Birds of the Republic of Panama. Part 2. Columbidae (Pigeons) to Picidae (Woodpeckers). Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. Wetmore, Alexander. 1973. The Birds of the Republic of Panama. Part 3. Passeriformes: Dendrocolaptidae (Woodcreepers) to Oxyruncidae (Sharpbill). Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. Wetmore, Alexander, Roger F. Pasquier, and Storrs L. Olson. 1984. The Birds of the Republic of Panama. Part 4. Passeriformes: Hirundinidae (Swallows) to Fringillidae (Finches). Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

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Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: El Valle de Antón. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 21/05/2013

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