Bird communities are sensitive indicators of habitat type and condition.
Therefore careful ornithological surveys can provide quick, practical
assessments of the ecological characteristics and conservation status of
many terrestrial communities in the tropical Americas. This volume
provides the data essential to the success of such surveys. It compiles,
for the first time, information on the ecological and geographical
distributions of all 4,037 bird species of the Neotropics, from Mexico
south to Tierra del Fuego, including many migrant species. Using this
extensive database, the authors analyze priorities for conservation in
the Neotropics, showing how bird communities can help determine which
Neotropical regions and habitats are in most urgent need of protection.
In almost three hundred pages of tables (also available on disk), the
authors provide detailed information on each species' geographic range,
habitat use, elevational limits, foraging levels, relative abundance,
and sensitivity to human disturbance. With the data in this book, for
example, one can pinpoint all bird species living in any Neotropical
country at a specific elevation in a particular vegetation type. Much of
this previously unpublished information was amassed by Theodore A.
Parker III before his untimely death. Careful analysis of this
information suggests surprising and controversial conclusions. For
instance, bird communities indicate that the current focus for
conservation action in the Amazonian lowlands is misplaced: these
forests are still relatively intact. Instead, biological communities
that are narrowly restricted to the lower slopes of the Andes, to the
tropical deciduous forests, and to theonce-extensive grasslands and
scrubs of central Brazil - communities still largely ignored by
conservationists - are the ones facing most immediate risks from current
development pressures. This unparalleled wealth of finely detailed
ecological information on Neotropical bird communities w
