Abstract

ANGULO-PRATOLONGO, Fernando; SCHULENBERG, Thomas S.  and  EDEVALY PUSE-FERNANDEZ, Elberth. Birds of Eten marshes, Lambayeque, Perú. Ecol. apl. [online]. 2010, vol.9, n.2, pp.71-81. ISSN 1726-2216.

We present a list of the birds of the Eten marshes, Lambayeque, Perú. These marshes are the northernmost limit of marshes dominated by Typha angustifolia and Scirpus spp. on the Peruvian coast. Three habitat types exist on the study area: marshes; sea and beach; and trees, shrubs and agriculture. The bird list gathers information from observations made between 1978 and 2009 and is composed by 153 species belonging to 17 orders and 45 families. Families best represented were Scolopacidae with 21 species and Laridae with 15. Five species are Tumbesian endemics, one of which is also endemic to Perú. One species is globally threatened and eight are threatened according to national legislation. The problems of the area are unregulated hunting, a high amount of solid residues, cattle ranching and expansion of agriculture. We propose the Eten marshes as an Important Bird Area and discuss that it should receive formal protection through the Lambayeque regional government. Future research must be directed to establish a sustainable management of the area for resource extraction and for tourist use. Also, it is important to determine if Sternula lorata, a globally threatened species nests in this area.

Keywords : Eten; Lambayeque; Sternula; lorata.

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