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By Zahid de Jesus Orozco Vasquez, Executive Director of Natural Landscapes and Anthropogenic Territories (PANTERA, A.C.)
In La Chinantla, Mexico, EcoLogic Development Fund, along with its local partners PANTERA and FARCO and members of local communities, recently completed the first phase of bird monitoring efforts as part of an ongoing project.
At the Alliance for the Conservation of Birds of the Papaloapan, we believe that data collection, knowledge sharing, and capacity building are essential for developing effective strategies for conserving birds and their habitats. La Chinantla is home to the highest biodiversity in Oaxaca, a state that is recognized for having the greatest bird species diversity in Mexico. Up-to-date monitoring is essential for understanding the current status of migratory, resident, and endemic bird populations. The data gathered helps determine their presence in ecosystems and within the communities where the monitoring is taking place—such as the ejidos of Rancho Faisán and Vega del Sol, in Santa María Jacatepec, and the ejido of Chiltepec in San José Chiltepec.
This ongoing study serves as a tool to develop additional conservation strategies, offering insights on species distribution, potential ecosystem changes and even uncovering previously undocumented information on local biodiversity. The monitoring efforts cover a variety of landscapes—primary and secondary forests*, agro-productive areas, and silvopastoral systems. Depending on the vegetation type, two different observation techniques are employed. In areas with limited vegetation, such as agro-productive and silvopastoral areas, stationary 30-meter diameter point counts allow for precise bird observation. In denser primary and secondary forests, 100-meter transects enable monitors to move and observe birds within micro-ecosystems.
Community brigades from Rancho Faisán, Vega del Sol, and Chiltepec—who have been trained in bird identification and monitoring—lead these efforts using both traditional filed logs and citizen science platforms like the eBird and Merlin Bird ID apps from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Photos by Zahid de Jesus Orozco Vasquez
With the support of our technical teams, the brigades are contributing to the growth of the global ornithological community. Additionally, they are establishing the first audiovisual bird database in the Papaloapan Basin region, which will serve as a vital educational tool for future conservation initiatives and environmental awareness campaigns.
This spring, the Rancho Faisán community observed 216 birds, recording 57 species; Vega del Sol observed 228 birds, recording 67 species; and in Chiltepec, 351 birds were observed with 64 species. Altogether, this amounted to a regional total of 795 birds and 119 species, spanning 97 genera, 36 families, and 17 orders.
These preliminary results showcase the immense bird diversity in this region and emphasize the importance of conserving their habitats Notably, 14.28% of these 119 species are categorized as at risk or protected under Mexico's NOM-059, the country's official list of endangered and threatened wildlife, 2.52% are designated as threatened or endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and 0.84% are classified as exotic species. Additionally, 17.64% are migratory and 5.04% are endemic species.
The presence of the endemic Sumichrast’s Wren (Hylorchilus sumichrasti) in all three communities highlights the importance of connected habitats for species survival. Its limited range means it relies on interconnected areas for essential activities like feeding, breeding, and shelter. Destroying or damaging these habitats can isolate populations, making them more vulnerable to threats. Community conservation efforts are crucial to maintaining these habitats and ensuring the long-term survival of species like the Sumichrast’s Wren.
As the first study of its kind, and with these initial findings from spring, Chinantecan communities are on track to create one of the most comprehensive ornithological lists of species in the region. Year-round observations will allow us to assess the conservation status of local biodiversity by identifying the ecosystem services that birds provide to their natural habitats.
The success of these collaborative efforts between the community brigades, EcoLogic, FARCO, and PANTERA, demonstrates how blending scientific knowledge with traditional knowledge can strengthen conservation outcomes. By placing Indigenous communities at the center and drawing on their deep expertise in safeguarding natural areas, we can more effectively protect these vital habitats—ensuring that future generations continue to benefit from the region’s rich biodiversity.
Join us on Thursday, October 10th, for our webinar "Migratory Bird Conservation as a Catalyst for Change" and discover how you can support EcoLogic's vital work.
We are deeply grateful to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA) grant program for its invaluable support and partnership in this project.
*Primary forests are relatively intact forests that have been essentially unmodified by human activity for the past sixty to eighty years; an ecosystem characterized by an abundance of mature trees (World Bank 1991). Secondary forests are forests regenerating largely through natural processes after significant human or natural disturbance of the original forest vegetation at a single point in time or over an extended period, and displaying a major difference in forest structure and/or canopy species composition from the nearby primary forests on similar sites (FAO 2003).
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