Birds of Iwokrama Forest | Research & Collections

by Brian O’Shea, Collections Manager for Ornithology

This summer, I joined a team of scientists and university students participating in a long-term study of the biodiversity of the Iwokrama Forest, a sustainable-use reserve covering almost one million acres in central Guyana. Iwokrama’s mission is to develop novel strategies to preserve biodiversity while also earning income from the forest, thereby demonstrating that it is possible to preserve functional ecosystems in the course of economic development.

I capture and band birds on study plots that I resample year after year to assess changes in species composition and abundance, and the age structure of populations. I also monitor avian diversity using automated sound recorders to document species at each site. The Iwokrama Forest boasts an impressive bird list – almost 500 species have been observed in the reserve!

Here I highlight some of the most interesting birds we captured this summer.

Read the rest of this article

Source: Birds of Iwokrama Forest | Research & Collections