David Dudenhoefer SalvaNATURA researches the importance of shade-grown coffee for Neotropical migrants Zoom In

SalvaNATURA Bird-a-thon supports Neotropical migrant monitoring

13-10-2006

Money raised by this year’s Bird-a-thon will help SalvaNATURA (BirdLife in El Salvador) with the running costs of its permanent bird monitoring stations in three national parks. The stations are a vital part of a network of ringing stations across Central America, which track migrants like Golden-winged Warbler Vermivora chrysoptera and Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula to and from the north.
 
Set up by SalvaNATURA’s Head of Science, Oliver Komar, the stations initially depended on the goodwill of volunteers, and the time Komar could spare from his many other responsibilities.

“Support from Bird-a-thon sponsors over the last three years has enabled us to train three full-time professionals and more than 20 volunteers, who run mist-nets every week of the year at five stations in the El Impossible, Los Volcanes and Montecristo National Parks,” Komar explains.  All three national parks are soon to be declared Important Bird Areas.

One monitoring station has been set up in a shade-grown coffee plantation in the buffer zone of Los Volcanes National Park.  “Here we are gathering valuable data on the ecology of birds in coffee plantations, to evaluate how this major land use can conserve avian diversity.” Komar says the presence of biologists in the national park helps local communities appreciate their immense value for birds.

The Bird-a-thon takes place over the weekend of 14-15 October and sponsors can support the work either by pledging an amount per species, or a lump sum. For the sponsorship form, click here (420 KB).