Avifaunal surveys in the central Peruvian Amazon clarify range limits and highlight links between avian and habitat diversity

Abstract

The bird life of the central Peruvian Amazon is poorly known. To better characterize bird diversity and distributions, we conducted 4 expeditions to this lowland area, totaling 114 field days in 2015, 2018, and 2019. We focused on sampling under-surveyed habitats, terra firme in multiple interfluves, and sites around a recent river avulsion, and we detected 657 bird species across 22 study sites. Our results include the first extensive inventories of blackwater wetland systems, Guadua bamboo tracts, and riverine islands in central Peru; revised information on distributions with respect to river barriers, including documentation of contact and putative hybridization between parapatric forms; 28 first regional records; and new details on poorly known taxa. Together, these results provide a more complete picture of avian diversity in an area characterized by high species richness, high habitat diversity, and biogeographic interchange. White-bellied Parrot (Pionites leucogaster) Black-headed Parrot (Pionites melanocephalus) Brotogeris sanctithomae X 263 Brotogeris versicolurus X X X X X 264 Brotogeris cyanoptera X X M X M X X X X X X X -- Brotogeris sp. X X 265 Pyrilia barrabandi X M X X X X 266 Pionus menstruus M X M M X X X X X X X X X X X X 267 Graydidascalus brachyurus M X X X M X 268 Amazona festiva M X 269 Amazona ochrocephala M X X X X X X 270 Amazona farinosa M M X X X X X X X 271 Amazona amazonica X X X -- Amazona sp. X 272 Forpus modestus X 273 Forpus xanthopterygius X M X -- Forpus sp. X X 274 Pionites melanocephalus S,M S 275 Pionites leucogaster S,M X X X X 276 Pyrrhura roseifrons X X S,M -- Pyrrhura sp. M 277 Aratinga weddellii X X X M M M X X X X X X X X M X X 278 Orthopsittaca manilatus X M M 279 Primolius couloni M X X X X X M 280 Ara macao X X X M 281 Ara chloropterus M X 282 Ara severus X M X X X X X X X -- Ara sp. X 283 Psittacara leucophthalmus X X X X X X X X X X X X X M