Birds are one of the most important natural resources for the planet and South American Bird Research is home to incredible diversity that captures our interest. This fascination fuels bird tourism, contributes to local economies and raises awareness of the need to protect avian habitats. The continent’s avian treasures also serve as the perfect subjects for scientific research and study. Birds can reveal key insights into migration patterns, evolutionary processes and the impact of environmental changes on avian populations.
All You Need to Know: Ghost Bird Information and Insights
To ensure that the birds of South America continue to inspire us, it is crucial that we learn all that we can about these fascinating creatures. The goal of this new series, to be published in four volumes, is to provide a definitive reference for the entire region’s birdlife. It draws on museum specimens, a fresh look at systematics and extensive field observations to give the reader a vivid and accurate portrait of the birdlife of this region.
SMBC ornithologists are tracking the migratory behavior of bellbirds and kites in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul State. By attaching satellite transmitters to these animals, they are able to identify the migratory timing of each species and the locations and routes that the birds take during their journeys.
Migratory birds are particularly vulnerable to the effects of rapid environmental changes, but little is known about their annual cycles because of a lack of research in their neotropical breeding and overwintering areas. In a preprint, authors from the neotropics call attention to several factors—including a shortage of funding, few Latin American ornithologists in leadership roles and a tendency to favor papers written in English over those in Spanish and Portuguese—that they say have marginalized the work of researchers from their region.