Birding Honduras: A Checklist and Guide
... Compilaciones de datos sobre la distribución de aves en Honduras fueron elaborados por Monroe (1968) y por Bonta & Anderson (2002). Mientras que el este de Honduras ha sido recientemente investigado de forma más intensiva (Marcus 1983, Howell & Webb 1992, Anderson 1998; varios reportes de registros en la revista North American Birds, e.g. ...
... Algunos detalles fueron publicados en varios artículos: Hanson (1982) reportó poblaciones del quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), y algunos registros notables han sido reportados en Jones ( , 2005. Algunas especies de aves de los alrededores de Copán Ruinas han sido mencionadas en una publicación enfocada en observadores de aves (Bonta & Anderson 2002). ...
... Vi el ave con binoculares 10x42 y fue obvio el color rojizo de la cola y de las plumas primarias del ala. La especie aparentemente no ha sido reportada con evidencia física en Honduras (Bonta & Anderson 2002), pero ha sido reportada también por Gallardo (2002). ...
... Este número es parcial, mucha más investigación es necesaria para determinar el número de especies reproductivas en el macizo. En conjunto con previos registros (Komar 2000, 2002, Bonta & Anderson 2002, Jones 2004a,b,c, 2005, 265 especies han sido registradas en el macizo Montecristo. ...
... Durante esta EER se observaron cinco especies que no fueron registradas anteriormente para el macizo de Montecristo: Xiphorhynchus erythropygius, Zimmerius vilissimus, Vireo huttoni, Cyanolyca cucullata, Melozone biarcuata. El registro de Vireo huttoni representa una extensión del rango (comparar mapa en Howell & Webb 1995), la especie no ha sido reportada anteriormente en Honduras (Bonta & Anderson 2002). ...
... Comparación y compatibilidad de los resultados con estudios anteriores La lista en el cuadro 2 incluye 265 especies que han sido registradas en el área protegida trinacional Montecristo. La lista incluye especies registradas durante este estudio, especies registradas en el Parque Nacional Montecristo (El Salvador; Komar 2000, Komar 2002a, Jones 2004a,b,c, 2005, registros publicados de la parte de Honduras (Bonta & Anderson 2002). En el Parque Nacional Montecristo en El Salvador han sido reportadas 243 especies, en Honduras 96 especies y en Guatemala 125 especies. ...
Online at http://www.sica.int/busqueda/busqueda_archivo.aspx?Archivo=info_5246_1_21082006.pdf
... Bird lists were set up at nine points (Pa-Pi) which were located approximately 2 to 3 km apart from each other. The beach (point a= Pa), i.e., from the jetty "Muelle Turistico Reynaldo Canales" to the western estuary of the Río Cangrejal river, and the city centre of La Ceiba (172,000 inhabitants in 2007; Brinkhoff 2020) have been visited on eight Beall (1997), Frederick et al. (1997), Bonta and Anderson (2002), Ordoñez and House (2008), and IUCN (2020). The order of bird classes is used as in Chesser et al. (2017) and Gill et al. (2020), the order of families and species according to the Honduran species lists (Dickinson and Remsen 2013;Dickinson and Christidis 2014;Collar 2014, 2016;Lepage and Warnier 2020). ...
... A= accidental; N= native, breeding; V= visitor, non-breeding; W= widespread visitor, locally breeding; 1= common; 2= uncommon. NT= nearly threatened according to Bonta and Anderson (2002) and IUCN (2020). *= out of its common range. ...
The northern coast of Honduras is potentially covered with tropical rainforests, reaching from the Caribbean Sea up to the cloud forests of the Pico Bonito summits. Therefore, it was blessed with the mega-diverse avifauna of the Central American humid neotropics. Although local bird species have been generally well documented, there are hardly any updates on the biodiversity of northern Honduras. Thus, this study contributes to our knowledge of the natural shift of bird life, following up the Cangrejal River with its different slight land use intensification in the region. Standardized bird records along the valley are analyzed, reaching from the beaches of La Ceiba up to the managed rainforests of El Toncontíns in the lower montane rainforests. Nine points were checked over the course of at least 6 days, taking point counts between 16 March and 20 June 2005. A NMDS of the joined nine point-lists elucidates four main groups, namely the beach/city ecosystems, open habitats along the river banks, slightly cleared forests (park landscape), and a mature rainforest. In total, 115 bird species, from 102 genera and 44 families, were found in 2005. As methods are limited, results can represent merely a prodromus of bird composition of neotropical valleys of the Central American isthmus. However, avi-diversity is affected by forest degradation and increasing land-use changes. Since deforestation is still soaring in the region, bird species composition should be monitored, as it will be as dynamic as land use changes in the region.
... No obstante, Arremonops chloronotus twomeyi solo existe en los valle áridos de Agalta y Aguán. Esta población está aislada y los individuos son más pequeños que sus congéneres del resto del país (Monroe 1968, Howell y Webb 1995, Bonta y Anderson 2002. ...
... Las especies categorizadas como abundantes fueron Crotophaga sulcirostris y Amazilia rutila, que es probablemente el colibrí más común del país. Por el contrario, Chondrohierax uncinatus y Cypseloides niger fueron las más raras (Cuadro 1) y son generalmente difíciles de detectar (Bonta y Anderson 2002). Sin duda el número de especies en el valle de Agalta es mucho mayor. ...
p> El colibrí esmeralda hondureño ( Amazilia luciae ) es la única ave endémica de Honduras. Esta especie ha sido catalogada como una de las aves más amenazadas de Centroamérica. El colibrí esmeralda existe solamente en seis áreas de bosque seco de Honduras. En el oriente se conoce de los valles de Agalta y Telica (Olancho) y el valle de Aguán (Yoro). En el occidente se ha observado en los valles de Tencoa, Quimistán y Jicatuyo (Santa Bárbara y Cortés). El hábitat de bosque seco del valle de Agalta ha sido eliminado y deteriorado y para el 2102 solo permanecían 20 fragmentos de diferentes tamaños. En estos fragmentos censamos las aves con énfasis en el colibrí esmeralda. Hicimos 50 transeptos de punto y categorizamos a las aves según su abundancia. El colibrí esmeralda resultó ser relativamente común en el área. Lo encontramos en 10 de los fragmentos de bosque seco de Agalta. Esta fue la única especie especialista de las 90 que detectamos en el valle. Las demás especies son generalistas y la mayoría comunes o abundantes. Una de las especies comunes fue Arremonops chloronotus twomeyi , una subespecie que solo existe en los valles secos de Agalta y Aguán. A pesar de que observamos al colibrí, principalmente en los bordes de bosque seco, el mayor problema para su conservación en Agalta es la tenencia de la tierra. Diecinueve de los remanentes de bosque seco en Agalta son propiedad privada, el otro es municipal. Planteamos algunas alternativas para la conservación del colibrí esmeralda en Agalta. De estas, la que podría ser más factible es la creación de un programa de pagos por servicios ambientales (PSA). La regeneración del bosque en potreros en desuso actualmente no es una solución a largo plazo si siguen en manos privadas. Los propietarios privados protegerán el bosque si reciben estímulos económicos para hacerlo. Un PSA podría obtener parte de su financiamiento para operar por medio de un peaje ambiental en la carretera Gualaco-San Esteban.
Ceiba, 2016. Volumen 54(2)127-138</p
... Species Numbers Monroe (1968) provided the first detailed distributional and taxonomic study of the Honduran birds published. In the early twenty-first century, Bonta and Anderson (2002) published an updated species checklist of the Honduran birds using the Monroe book as a starting point and their own observations countrywide. In more recent years, two publications arose with detailed information and distribution of the avian diversity in Honduras (Gallardo, 2014;Fagan and Komar, 2016), thus expanding what was known for the country and predicting the possible stability at around 800 species. ...
... Species Numbers Monroe (1968) provided the first detailed distributional and taxonomic study of the Honduran birds published. In the early twenty-first century, Bonta and Anderson (2002) published an updated species checklist of the Honduran birds using the Monroe book as a starting point and their own observations countrywide. In more recent years, two publications arose with detailed information and distribution of the avian diversity in Honduras (Gallardo, 2014;Fagan and Komar, 2016), thus expanding what was known for the country and predicting the possible stability at around 800 species. ...
Paraguay is a country located in a south-central position within South America, and it limits with Bolivia at the north, Brazil at the east, and Argentina at the western and southern borders. The main types of natural vegetation currently observable in the country: wetlands, cerrado, savannas and forests. The lack of studies in the area, 336,000 hectares are deforested every year due to the fast expansion of mechanized agriculture and extensive livestock farming in the name of progress, with disastrous consequences for biodiversity. Paraguay has been in the middle of several debates among the ecological division of the country with conflictual situations for ecosystems, ecoregions and biomes. From the landscape perspective three of them, Neembucu, Litoral Central and Humid Chaco are very similar habitat and ecotypes, marshes and grasslands, partially flooded during the different seasons with some patchy and sparse low forests and shrubby areas.
... To a lesser extent the model also indicates suitable habitat in southwestern Honduras, although the occurrence and status of tapir populations in this region is unknown. Pristine cloud forest remains in southwestern Honduras, but these areas have been historically surrounded by pine forest or pine-oak forest assumed to be poor habitat for tapirs; different from the cloud forest in the Atlantic which transitions into lowland broadleaf tropical forest (Anderson & Bonta, 2002). Nonetheless, few surveys have been carried out in southwestern Honduras cloud forests, thus our model points to this part of the country as an important area to search for tapirs in the future. ...
The presence of Baird’s tapir Tapirus bairdii in the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca in Southern Mexico has been previously reported by Lira et al. (2006), using track records and information obtained through interviews. Seven years later, its presence was confirmed with pictures (Lavariega et al., 2013), bone remains, and tracks (Peña et al., in press). Subsequently, after three surveys with camera traps in the Sierra de Villa Alta (17°29’23”N 96°7’45.6”W; 1499 masl), additional pictures of adult animals have been obtained (personal observation, Mario C. Lavariega; Figure 1).
... A similar search on 3 November 2005 was unsuccessful. Published lists for Honduras3,20 included the species on the basis of a record in October 1962 at Los Farallones, at the mouth of the Gulf of Fonseca, but this is now Nicaraguan territory 16 making ours the first record in the modern boundaries of Honduras. There are few suitable rocky coasts in southern Honduras and on each of the two visits c.50% of the total habitat was checked thoroughly. ...
Jenner, T., Komar, O., & Narish, A. 2007. Noteworthy bird records from the Gulf of Fonseca, Honduras. Cotinga 28: 13–20.
... Honduras: Midence (1997) documented a lack of information on this species distribution. Surveys have been carried out recently; Bonta and Anderson (2002) consider the species common in cloud forest. Display behavior was observed and nesting is assumed (M. ...
... To assemble each regional pool of species we considered all species of possible occurrence in the canopy of primary forest, exluding terrestrial, aquatic, and aerial species as well as regional species not known to frequent primary forests. For Honduras we considered those species found below 350 m in Pico Bonito National Park (Bonta and Anderson 2002), and for Brazil we considered species listed by Cohn-Haft el al. (1997) as occurring in the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BD-FFP) north of Manaus. We used a bootstrapping procedure to randomly draw a number of species from a given regional pool equal to the number of species in the region's group of core canopy species. ...
Birds of the forest canopy are an integral component of bird communities of neotropical forests but remain largely unstudied, inhibiting any broad characterization of their assemblages. We present the first description of a canopy-bird assemblage from Middle America and, on the basis of > 11000 detections in lowland rainforests in Honduras and Amazonian Brazil, compare two distant canopy-bird assemblages. The richness of canopy birds at the two sites was similar despite the much higher richness of forest birds in Brazil. Furthermore, abundance distributions differed significantly: in Honduras the assemblage was dominated by a small number of superabundant species and had fewer rare species, whereas in Brazil it had fewer abundant species and was thus more even. Omnivores and insectivores dominated the assemblages in terms of species richness, but omnivores were numerically more abundant. Species of forest edges and open habitats, sometimes considered an important component of forest-canopy avifauna, were underrepresented at both sites in comparison to null expectations drawn from the pool of species in each region. Long-distance migrants were more important in Honduras, where they constituted a third of canopy birds, yet species richness of migrants did not differ from a null expectation. Finally, we present a baseline classification of the core constituent species of bird assemblages in the canopy of lowland neotropical rainforests.
... Although juveniles may disperse widely from their natal sites after fledging, the 15 July 2006 observation suggests local breeding by this species, which may have fledged young shortly before the surveys. Although not known to breed in Honduras (Monroe 1968;Bonta and Anderson 2002), this species nests on cays off Belize (Howell and Webb 1995;Jones 2003). ...
In the first comprehensive survey of tern colonies in the Honduras Bay Islands, 46 cays were surveyed in 2005 and 2006 and three species of terns were observed nesting in colonies on ten individual cays. Apparent colony turnover was high between years for Least (Sternula antillarum) and Roseate (Sterna dougallii) Terns, from 71% to 100%, respectively. The first nest records of Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus) for Honduras are documented.
A research project was conducted with the goal to know bird's diversity and their abundance in pine-oak ecosystems. This study took place in three municipalities of Olancho: Gualaco (La Siguapa micro watershed), La Unión (buffer zone of natural reservoir La Muralla) and Catacamas (Piedra Blanca). Two observations were made in July adn October. The methodology was basedin trasept lines, once in the morning with a 3 km hike from 6:00 am to 10:== am and in the afternoon with a 1.5 km from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm, repeated fot five days. A hundred and twenty six bird species were found. 82.95% were resident species and 117.05% were migratory species. The parulidae family presented most species in these areas. The diversity index (Riqueza, Shannon, Simpson and Margalef) indicated that the three sites presents a high level of diversity and abundance of species. Catacamas stands out with the most divesity and abundance of species from three sites tested..
Belize is one of the smallest countries in Central America and has one of the lowest human population densities of any country in the world. More than 40% of its land is in protected open space. Of its eleven resident owl species, Ciccaba virgata, a woodland species, is the most common and widespread, followed roughly in order by Megascops guatemalae of woodland habitats; Tyto alba, an inhabitant of open areas; and the more locally distributed Glaucidium brasilianum of open woodlands and edges. Pulsatrix perspicillata, C. nigrolineata, G. griseiceps, and Lophostrix cristata are confined largely to mature broadleaf forests in the interior. Asio stygius is confined to pine woodlands; Bubo virginianus to a variety of habitats on the Ambergris peninsula, and along the northern coastal strip where it is rare; and Pseudoscops clamator to open meadows and savannas on the coastal plain south of Belize City. Athene cunicularia and Asio flammeus have been recorded in Belize as vagrants. The percentage of each owl species’ distributional range that lies within designated protected areas is examined, and the extent to which these lands are managed for protection of their natural resources is explored. The most serious current anthropogenic threats to owls and their habitats are discussed, as are potential impacts on owls from global climate change. In light of these documented and perceived threats, A. stygius and B. virginianus mayensis are the most vulnerable, the former from potential forest fires, bark beetle infestations, timber extraction, and land clearing for milpas, and the latter because of its very limited distribution in Belize, its small world population, and uncertainties about the viability of its source population in the Yucatan Peninsula. Protection of owl habitats through improved management and patrolling of the country’s vast network of protected areas, better enforcement of its environmental laws and regulations, and expanded environmental education programs appears at this time to be the most effective conservation strategies for owls in Belize.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-57108-9_13
This compilation of recent data on the distribution, ecology, and conservation status of owls (Strigiformes) in Guatemala is based on an extensive literature review and numerous unpublished observations. Twenty species of owls have been recorded in Guatemala, of which 18 are resident. Breeding has been reported for 17 species, and it is assumed for one species. Two species are considered rare or accidental nonbreeding visitors to Guatemala during the northern winter. Guatemala’s region with the highest species richness in owls is the highlands, where 17 species have been recorded. Twelve species have been recorded in the Pacific slope lowlands and 13 species in the Atlantic slope lowlands. We analyzed the data in the presence and relative abundance of owls from 105 sites from 1989 to 2016. According to the weighted mean value of the relative abundance index across three ornithogeographic regions, the most common owls in the country are (abundance ranking in descending order): Mexican wood owl (Strix squamulata), Ridgway’s pygmy owl (Glaucidium ridgwayi), Guatemalan screech owl (Megascops guatemalae), black-and-white owl (Strix nigrolineata), American barn owl (Tyto furcata), Central American pygmy owl (Glaucidium griseiceps), Guatemalan pygmy owl (Glaucidium cobanense), great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), fulvous owl (Strix fulvescens), unspotted saw-whet owl (Aegolius ridgwayi), whiskered screech owl (Megascops trichopsis), crested owl (Lophostrix cristata), and Pacific screech owl (Megascops cooperi). Guatemala has an adequate legal framework to protect owl species (32% of the country is legally protected), but the conservation is not efficient, causing threats to owl populations. Of 18 resident owl species, 12 are forest specialists. In a vulnerability assessment applying IUCN Red List criteria on a national level, one species has been evaluated as Critically Endangered (CR), one as Endangered (EN), nine as Vulnerable (VU), five as Near Threatened (NT), two as Least Concern (LC), and two as not applicable. Habitat alterations through agriculture, mining, and oil drilling are the main threats. Of the remaining forests, 14% (5500 km²) were lost from 2000 to 2010, and the pressure on natural habitat will further increase. In addition, owls in Guatemala are threatened by direct persecution because of popular superstitions. The network of 21 Important Bird Areas (IBA) in Guatemala includes populations of all owl species. Three species have been recorded in at least 10 IBAs, 12 species in 5–9 IBAs, 4 in 2–4 IBAs, and 1 species in only one IBA. We consider the increase of the education level among the Guatemalan society the main key to protect habitats within the IBAs. A higher level of education would help to slow down population growth, increase environmental awareness, and consequently diminish pressure on natural areas.
Please note that an updated chapter was published in: Eisermann, K. & C. Avendaño (2017) The owls of Guatemala. 447-515 in P. L. Enríquez (ed.) Neotropical owls: diversity and conservation. Springer, Cham, Switzerland.
This is a compilation of recent data on the distribution, ecology, and conservation status of owls (Strigiformes) in Guatemala, based on an extensive literature review and numerous unpublished observations. According to modern taxonomy (König et al. 2008), a total of 20 species of owls has been recorded in Guatemala; one species of the genus Tyto, Psiloscops (1 species), Megascops (4), Bubo (1), Pulsatrix (1), Strix (3), Lophostrix (1), Glaucidium (3), Aegolius (1), Athene (1), and Asio (3). Of the 20 species, 17 are resident in Guatemala. Nesting has been reported for 15 species, and it is assumed for two species. Three species are rare or accidental non-breeding visitors to Guatemala during the northern winter. The highlands are Guatemala’s region with the highest species richness in owls, where 17 species have been recorded. In the Pacific and Atlantic slope lowlands 12 species have been recorded in each. Data on the presence and relative abundance of owls from 1989 to 2012 (and some from 2013) were analyzed from 102 sites. New site records were established for rarely reported species such as Bearded Screech-Owl (Megascops barbarus), Stygian Owl (Asio stygius), and Unspotted Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius ridgwayi). According to the mean of an abundance index value from 102 sites, the most abundant species in Guatemala are (in descendent order of abundance): Mexican Wood Owl (Strix squamulata), Ridgway’s Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium ridgwayi), Guatemalan Screech-Owl (Megascops guatemalae), Guatemalan Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium cobanense), Black-and-white Owl (Strix nigrolineata), and Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). The most abundant species in the highlands were: Mexican Wood Owl, Guatemalan Pygmy-Owl, Fulvous Owl (Strix fulvescens), Great Horned Owl, Ridgway’s PygmyOwl, Unspotted Saw-whet Owl, and Whiskered Screech-Owl (Megascops trichopsis). In the Atlantic slope lowlands, the species with the highest abundance index were Mexican Wood Owl, Guatemalan Screech-Owl, Ridgway’s Pygmy-Owl, Black-and-white Owl, and Central American Pygmy-Owl. In the Pacific slope lowlands the most abundant species were Mexican Wood Owl, Ridgway’s Pygmy-Owl, and Pacific Screech-Owl (Megascops cooperi). Guatemala has an adequate legal framework to protect owl species (32% of the country is legally protected), but conservation is not efficient, causing serious threats to owl populations. Of 17 owl species regularly occurring in Guatemala, 11 are forest specialists and six are habitat generalists. In a vulnerability assessment applying IUCN Red List criteria on a national level, one species has been evaluated as Endangered (EN), 10 as Vulnerable (VU), four as Near Threatened (NT), two as Least Concern (LC), and three species were not evaluated for being vagrants. Habitat alteration through agriculture, mining, and oil drilling has been identified as main threat. Of the remaining forests, 14% (5 500 km2) were lost from 2000 to 2010, and the pressure on natural habitat will further increase. About 36 785 km2 (34% of Guatemala) are used or planned for exploration and exploitation by the mining and oil drilling industry. This area includes about 6 960 km2 or 20% of the country’s remaining forests. In addition, owls in Guatemala are threatened by direct persecution because of the common belief that these birds attract death and destruction. The network of 21 Important Bird Areas (IBA) in Guatemala includes populations of all owl species. Two species have been recorded in more than 10 IBAs, 12 species in 5-9 IBAs, five in 2-4 IBAs, and one species in only one IBA. We consider the increase of the education level among the Guatemalan society as a main goal in order to protect habitat within the IBAs, and thus owl populations. A higher level of education would help to slow down population growth, increase environmental awareness, and consequently diminish pressure on natural areas.
Here we review the distribution of the Crested Eagle (Morphnus guianensis) in the Americas, and based on the Brazilian Harpy Eagle Conservation Program (PCGR) database, literature, online databases, zoos, wild and museum records, we provide an updated distribution map with 37 points outside the IUCN map; 16 were recorded close to the border of the map (up to 40 km), and do not expand or contribute to the distribution map. Far from the border (>40 km) we found 21 records, contributing to an expansion of the known range and habitat. At the northernmost extreme of distribution, the range was extended to southern Mexico; in Nicaragua, the range extension was farther south in the north, and two records extend the range to the southern border with Costa Rica. In Colombia, an old specimen is located between Darien Peninsula and the Perija Mountains. In Brazil a record from the ecotone between Cerrado and Gallery Forest, and another in an upland remnant of Atlantic Rainforest, expands the range towards central and southeastern Brazil, and to the Northeast, old records could expand the Atlantic Rainforest distribution towards the interior. © 2015, Sociedade Brasileira de Ornitologia. All rights reserved.
En esta nota se presenta información relacionada con el manejo en cautiverio de la lechuza mantequera Tyto alba en el Zoológico Metropolitano Rosy Walther, Honduras. El objetivo fue documentar los datos más importantes sobre el comportamiento, alimentación y tamaño de los alojamientos. Además, durante el período comprendido entre diciembre 2013 y febrero 2014 se dio seguimiento al nacimiento de dos polluelos. El tamaño de puesta conocido de la especie en condiciones de cautiverio se redujo a dos huevos y el desarrollo de los pichones se completó hacia la doceava semana cuando desapareció el plumaje juvenil y se alimentaban por ellos mismos.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5377/ceiba.v52i2.1757
Owls belong to the least studied Neotropical birds. In Mexico and Central America (Guatemala, Belize, Honduras,
El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama), 38 owl species have been recorded, of which six have a
restricted distribution ,50,000 km2. Of the 38 species, 17 (45%) are restricted to Mexico y Central America.
Biogeographic zones with the highest species richness are the lowlands of the Pacific slope (23 species)
and the highlands of northern Mexico (21), followed by the highlands of northern Central America (15), the
lowlands of the Gulf-Caribbean slope (15), and the highlands of southern Central America (12). A classification of the state of knowledge on the ecology of owls restricted to Mexico and Central America showed that
no species has been studied in detail. Best known species are Bearded Screech-Owl Megascops barbarus
and Guatemalan Screech-Owl M. guatemalae,and least known are Oaxaca Screech-Owl Megascops lambi,
Cape Pygmy-Owl Glaucidium hoskinsii,Unspotted Saw-whet Owl Aegolius ridgwayi,and Fulvous Owl Strix
fulvescens. Common and widespread species such as Pacific Screech-Owl Megascops cooperi,Whiskered
Screech-Owl M. trichopsis,Ridgway’s Pygmy-Owl Glaucidium ridgwayi,and Central American Pygmy-Owl
G. griseicepshave not been studied in detail in the region. Migration and local movements, home range, demography and population trends remain little known. Until 2011, none of the Mexican and Central American
owl species were classified as threatened in the IUCN Red List of globally threatened species. On a national
level, however, most of the species are considered as threatened. Habitat loss is the main threat for Mexican and Central American owls. Many species are associated with forest ecosystems, which are shrinking
because of conversion to agricultural area. Protected areas cover 14% of terrestrial areas of Mexico and
Central America (1%–37% of national areas). Many protected areas are in peril because of the expansion
of agricultural areas, wood extraction and hunting. The recent identification of Important Bird Areas (IBAs)
in the region (15%–66% of national areas) showed that protected areas are insufficient for conservation. To
improve the conservation of Neotropical owls it is necessary to increase the knowledge about populations
and communities, and involve all parts of the society in conservation priorities.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.