Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Summary Tacana-Tajumulco is an important site for range-restricted birds of the North Central American Highlands, including three globally threatened species: Highland and Horned Guan, and Azure-rumped Tanager. Few recent ornithological data are available for this IBA, the site is expected to be important for a large set of species of the Madrean Highlands. Coffee plantations, corn fields, and secondary growth scrub cover 68% of the IBA. About 12% of the IBA are legally protected.

Ornithological information Tacana-Tajumulco is important for species restricted to the North Central American Highlands (7 species recorded). Despite little ornithological research in the area, populations of three globally threatened species have been reported recently: Highland and Horned Guan (Penelopina nigra and Oreophasis derbianus), and Azure-rumped Tanager (Tangara cabanisi) (Valdez et al. 1999, Cobár Carranza & Rivas Romero 2005, González García et al. 2006, Eisermann et al. 2006, Eisermann & Avendaño 2007). The site is expected to be important for a large number of species restricted to the Madrean Highlands; because of data deficiency the site does currently not apply under the criterion of importance for biome-restricted species.

Site description Tacana-Tajumulco is located in the Guatemalan volcanic belt and includes volcano Tajumulco and volcano Tacana, which is divided between Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico. This IBA ranges in elevation from 500 to 4200 m.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Protected areas

Protected area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
Astillero Municipal 1 y 2 de San Pedro Sacatepequez San Marcos	Regional Park	285	protected area contained by site	285
Astillero Municipal de San Marcos	Regional Park	860	protected area contained by site	860
Manila	Private Nature Reserve	244	protected area contained by site	244
Medio Día	Private Nature Reserve	450	protected area contained by site	450
Tewancarnero	Regional municipal park	353	protected area contained by site	353
Volcán San Antonio	Zona de Veda Definitiva	120	protected area contained by site	120
Volcán Tacaná	Zona de Veda Definitiva	2,964	protected area contained by site	2,964
Volcán Tajumulco	Zona de Veda Definitiva	13,032	protected area contained by site	13,032

Habitats

Land use

Management considerations About 150 years ago began the establishment of coffee plantations, which caused an extensive loss of habitat for species like Azure-rumped Tanager and Highland Guan, which are now considered threatened. Bird populations are threatened by management deficiencies in protected areas, an advancing agricultural border, illegal logging and hunting, and forest fires.

Protection status About 12% of the IBA are legally protected, including three regional parks, total protected zones of all volcano cones (Zona de Veda Definitiva), and two private nature reserves (CONAP 2007).

Acknowledgements Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas (CONAP) - Solola supported a workshop to identify IBAs in June 2006, hosted by University del Valle (Altiplano) in Solola, and the Museum of Natural History Jorge Ibarra, hosted a workshop in Guatemala City in June 2006. Input of unpublished data and suggestions for the delimitation of the IBA were provided during these workshop by representatives of CONAP, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala - Altiplano, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Fundación para el Ecodesarrollo y la Conservación (FUNDAECO) - Huehuetenango, Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Alimentación de Guatemala (MAGA) - Solola, Cuerpo de Paz, Municipality of Tecpan, Autoridad para el Manejo Sustentable de la Cuenca del Lago Atitlán y su Entorno (AMSCLAE), and Los Tarrales Nature Reserve. This first assessment of IBAs in Guatemala was conducted by Sociedad Guatemalteca de Ornitología and BirdLife International in the Americas.

References 

Cóbar Carranza, A. J. & J. A. Rivas Romero. 2005. Distribución actual y selección de sitios para el estudio y conservación del pavo de cacho (Oreophasis derbianus G. R. Gray, 1844) en los departamentos de San Marcos y Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Pp. 8-13 In J. Rivas, E. Secaira & J. Cornejo (eds.) Memorias II Simposium Internacional Oreophasis derbianus, 7-9 Abril 2005, Reserva Los Tarrales, Patulul, Suchitepéquez, Guatemala. The Nature Conservancy, Guatemala.

CONAP. 2007. Lista de áreas protegidas inscritas en el SIGAP. Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (CONAP), Guatemala. (Database accessed in June 2007)

Eisermann, K. & C. Avendaño. 2007. Lista comentada de las aves de Guatemala - Annotated checklist of the birds of Guatemala. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.

Eisermann, K., N. Herrera & O. Komar. 2006. Highland Guan (Penelopina nigra). Pp. 90-95. In D. M. Brooks (Ed.) Conserving Cracids: the most threatened family of birds in the Americas. Miscellaneous Publications of the Houston Museum of Natural Science 6.

González-Garcia, F., Rivas Romero, R. A. & Cóbar Carranza, A. J. 2006. Horned Guan (Oreophasis derbianus). Pp. 36-41. In D. M. Brooks (ed.) Conserving Cracids: the most threatened family of birds in the Americas. Miscellaneous Publications of the Houston Museum of Natural Science 6.

MAGA. 2006. Mapa de cobertura vegetal y uso de la tierra a escala 1:50,000 de la República de Guatemala, Año 2003 (Incluye 5 cultivos perennes actualizados al año 2005). Memoria técnica y descripción de resultados. Ministerio de Agricultura Ganadería y Alimentación –MAGA– / Unidad de Planificación Geográfica y Gestión de Riesgo –UPGGR–, Guatemala Ciudad, Guatemala.

Valdez, O. I., D. E. Marroquín, R. E. Orellana, S. G. Pérez, K. J. Sandoval, L. Villar, C. V. Godínez, M. E.Acevedo, J. E. Morales & L. E. Reyes. 1999. Fauna en peligro de extinción de Guatemala: inventarios rápidos para la conservación. Informe final (noviembre). Centro de Estudios Conservacionistas, Univ. San Carlos, Guatemala.

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Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Tacana-Tajumulco (part of Guatemalan/Mexican Pacific Coastal Mountains AZE). Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 20/05/2013

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