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A New study sheds light…. |
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Written by Charleen O'Donoghue
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Wednesday, 25 November 2009 |
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Source BirdLife International "A new study of the Critically Endangered Puerto Rican Nightjar Caprimulgus noctitherus suggests that the species's geographic range is greater than previously estimated. This is the major finding of Geographic distribution of the Puerto Rican Nightjar: A patch occupancy approach, a joint effort between the Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña, Inc. (SOPI, the BirdLife Partner and Species Guardian for Puerto Rican Nightjar), Mississippi State University, USGS Cooperative Research Units, BirdLife International, and The British Birdwatching Fair. With an estimated population of 1,400-2,000 individuals, Puerto Rican Nightjar is a single-island endemic species found in coastal dry and lower montane forests in the south-west of Puerto Rico. Fragmentation, loss and degradation of its habitat, especially from residential, industrial and recreational expansion are the main threats. SOPI, as part of the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions programme, liaised with researchers, Dr. Francisco Vilella and graduate student Rafael González to carry out the first systematic presence-absence survey to improve current knowledge on habitat and distribution of the nightjar Puerto Rican Nightjar was recorded over a broad region of southern Puerto Rico. “Based on our results and location information obtained over the last few years it appears the geographic range of the species may be considerably different from what had been previously estimated”, said Dr Francisco Vilella, USGS Research Scientist and Professor of Wildlife Ecology at Mississippi State University. The study results suggest that the species's range outside protected areas could be considerably greater than the approximately 4,583 ha (47% of total range) reported by earlier studies." Read more here! 
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» 2 Comments
1Comment
at Wednesday, 25 November 2009 07:38
Thanks for the interesting read Charlie.
Always sad to see how nature is forced to change & adapt because of man's greed.
2Comment
at Wednesday, 25 November 2009 18:59
let's hope the extended range means many more birds than estimated ;-)
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