An avifaunal survey of the vanishing montane Atlantic forest of southern Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

Recent ornithological surveys of humid forest remnants in the Serra da Ouricana near Boa Nova, southern Bahia, Brazil, revealed the existence of an as yet unnoticed montane Atlantic forest avifauna. Among the 220 species recorded, 27 represent range extensions of several hundred kilometres, several others were preceded only by single or a few old, disputed records from Bahia, and at least two are undescribed taxa. A portion of this avifauna has been recorded in other mountainous areas of interior Bahia (Chapada Diamantina, plateau of Maracás), where a complex vegetation mosaic that includes patches of humid forest is found. In addition to the two undescribed passerines, nine other threatened and thirteen near-threatened species have been recorded in the study area. Considered together with the adjoining and also highly endangered “mata-de-cipo”, forest habitats in the Boa Nova area are probably the most neglected habitats in Brazil concerning bird conservation. © 1995, Birdlife International. All rights reserved.