Important records of waterbirds along the Central Pacific Coast of Mexico

• Main Authors: Salvador Hernandez, Gerardo Hernández-Vázquez, Diego González-Zamora, Sarahy Contreras-Martínez, José Alfredo Castillo Guerrero, Lorena Ramírez-Ríos
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Sección Mexicana del Consejo Internacional para la Preservación de las Aves, A.C. 2019-12-01
• Series: Huitzil
• Subjects: aves; dispersión; nuevos reportes; jalisco; colima; méxico.
• Online Access: http://ojs.huitzil.net/index.php/huitzil/article/view/412

Documenting the presence of bird species outside of its current distribution, allows us to understand their patterns of spatial and temporal distribution. In addition it allows us to assess their ecological value compared to other sites. The records presented here were observed between 2009 and 2018 on the coast of Jalisco and Colima. During this time, we made monthly or seasonal visits to coastal wetlands and islands in order to identify and count the waterbirds. As a result of this study we report the presence of eight bird species: Ross’s Goose (Anser rossii), Cavreri’s Murrelet (Synthliboramphus craveri), Cassin’s Auklet (Ptychoramphus aleuticus), Leach’s Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) and Juan Fernandez Petrel (Pterodroma externa). In addition, we registered for the first time the nesting of the Hermann’s Gull (Larus heermanni), the Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) and the Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis). Five of the species observed are considered in some category of protection in Mexico as well as considered “at risk” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. For some species, such as Cassin’s Auklet, Juan Fernández Petrel and the Leach’s Storm-Petrel, their presence was associated with the passage of tropical storms Linda (2009), Juliette (2013) and Marty (2009), respectively, which affected the Coast of the central Mexican Pacific. With the nesting record of the Hermann’s Gull, we increased the breeding range by 90 km, in addition to being the first report in Peña Blanca, Colima. The Great Blue Heron was recorded in all the years in which the Pajarera Island was visited, in the bay of Chamela, Jalisco. Nests for this species included three in 2015, six nests in 2016, and four in 2017. In the case of Snail Kite we only observed two nests in the Tule lagoon, Jalisco; one in both 2016 and 2017. These records increase the list of species of water birds and new nesting sites on the coast of Jalisco and Colima.