Waterbirds of the lower basin of the Sinú river, Colombian Caribbean

Abstract

We studied the waterbirds occurring at the lower basin of the Sinú River, in the Colombian Caribbean, from 2009 to 2016. We established three sampling stations in the five main landscape units of the lower Sinú: beaches, mangrove forests, salt flats, brackish marshes and freshwater wetlands. The abundance, richness and diversity of waterbirds were assessed in every station twice yearly. We recorded 107 species of waterbirds, including 14 new species records for that site. Freshwater wetlands held the highest species richness and abundance of waterbirds in the basin, whereas the brackish marshes contained the highest diversity. Wading birds were the functional group with the largest concentrations of individuals. This study confirms the importance of the lower basin of the Sinú River for birds in the Caribbean coast of Colombia, as its wetlands hold feeding and breeding sites for five threatened waterbirds species.