Zoogeographical notes on the nonforest lowland bird faunas of northwestern South America

Jürgen Haffer

doi:10.56178/eh.v10i4.1295

Articles Published 01 December 1967 https://doi.org/10.56178/eh.v10i4.1295

Zoogeographical notes on the nonforest lowland bird faunas of northwestern South America

northwestern South America Northwestern South America non-forested regions Birdlife

Jürgen Haffer Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Sección de Ornitología, Universidad Nacional, Bogotá, Colombia, 15 May 1966. Present address: Mobil Oil Corporation, Field Research Laboratory,P.O. Box 900, Dallas, Texas 75221. U.S.A

Abstract

The fauna of the unforested lowlands of Venezuela and Colombia is closely related to that of the non-forest regions of Brazil and eastern Bolivia. Endemic genera are very few, and the number of endemic species is comparatively small. The dry intermontane valleys of the Colombian Andes were populated from the Caribbean lowlands to the north. Endemic forms of these valleys have reached the subspecies level, and some are markedly different. The faunal exchange between the Colombian and Central American open-country fauna was rendered difficult even during the dry climatic periods of the Pleistocene, due to partial flooding of the northern Colombian plains. The fauna of the arid Pacific coast of Ecuador and Peru has a great number of endemic genera and species. Some relations to the Brazilian non-forest fauna via the upper Marañón valley and dry pockets along the eastern base of the Peruvian Andes are evident in this fauna. It is concluded that part of the Brazilian non-forest fauna surrounded the Amazonian forest in the east (along the Atlantic coast) and in the west (along the base of the Peruvian Andes to reach the upper Marañón valley) during dry climatic periods of the past, when the distribution of the forests was more restricted. A connection between the Colombian–Venezuelan non-forest fauna and the arid Pacific fauna of Ecuador and Peru was prohibited by the Chocó forests (and the Chocó Refuge) along the Pacific coast of western Colombia. These forests formed a barrier to the non-forest fauna ever since they developed during the early Pleistocene uplift of the Colombian Andes.

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References

Bakker, J. P. (1954). Über den Einfluss von Klima, jüngerer Sedimentation und Bodenprofilentwicklung an die Savannen von Nord-Surinam (Mittelguayana). Erdkunde, 8(2): 89–112.
Barnes, V. & Phelps, W. H. (1940). Las aves de la península de Paraguaná. Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, 46: 1–33.
Borrero, J. I. & Hernández-Camacho, J. (1958). Apuntes sobre aves colombianas. Caldasia, 8(37): 253–294.
Borrero, J. I. & Olivares, A. (1955). Avifauna de la región de Sibatá, departamento de Boyacá, Colombia. Caldasia, 7(31): 51–81.
Chapman, F. M.(1917). The distribution of bird-life in Colombia; a contribution to a biological survey of South America. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 36: 1–729, 41 pls., 21 figs.
– (1921). The distribution of bird-life in the Urubamba Valley of Peru. Smithsonian Institution, U.S. National Museum Bulletin, 117: 1–138, 9 pls., 3 maps.
– (1926). The distribution of bird-life in Ecuador; a contribution to a study of the origin of Andean bird-life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 55: 1–784, 30 pls., 20 figs.
Cole, M. M. (1960). Cerrado, caatinga and Pantanal: The distribution and origin of the savanna vegetation of Brazil. The Geographical Journal, 126: 166–179.
Croxat, L. (1958). Panbiogeography, Vol. 1 (The New World). XXI + 1018 pp. Caracas (published by the author).
De Schauensee, R. M.(1948–1952). The birds of the Republic of Colombia. Caldasia, 5(22–26): 251–1214.
– (1964). The birds of Colombia and adjacent areas of South and Central America. XVI + 427 pp., 20 pls. Livingston Publishing Co., Narberth, Pennsylvania.
– (1966). The species of birds of South America. XVIII + 577 pp. Livingston Publishing Co., Narberth, Pennsylvania.
Dorst, J. (1957). Contribution à l'étude écologique des oiseaux du Haut Marañón (Pérou septentrional). L'Oiseau et la Revue Française d'Ornithologie, 27: 235–269.
Duellman, W. E.(1960). A distributional study of the amphibians of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History, 13: 19–72.
– (1966). The Central American herpetofauna: An ecological perspective. Copeia, 1966: 700–719.
Eisenmann, E. (1955). The species of Middle American birds. Transactions of the Linnaean Society of New York, 7: 1–128.
Haffer, J. (1961). Notas sobre la avifauna de la península de la Guajira. Novedades Colombianas, 1(6): 374–396.
– (1967). Speciation in Colombian forest birds west of the Andes. American Museum Novitates, 2294: 1–57.
Hueck, K. (1960). Mapas de vegetación de la República de Venezuela. Instituto Forestal, Mérida, Boletín 7: 1–16.
– (1966). Die Wälder Südamerikas; Ökologie, Zusammensetzung und wirtschaftliche Bedeutung. XX + 422 pp. In Vegetationsmonographien der einzelnen Grossräume, ed. H. Walter. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart.
Koepcke, H. W. (1961). Synökologische Studien an der Westseite der peruanischen Anden. Bonner Geographische Abhandlungen, 29: 1–320, 112 fig.
Koepcke, M. (1962). Zur Kenntnis der in Peru lebenden Tauben der Gattung Columbigallina Boie. Beitr. Neotrop. Fauna, 2(4): 295–301.
Lauer, W. (1959). Klimatische und pflanzengeographische Grundzüge Zentralamerikas. Erdkunde, 13: 344–355.
Lehmann, F. C. & Haffer, J. (1967). La avifauna del valle del alto Río Patía, departamento del Cauca, Colombia. Rupicola, Contrib. Cient. Mus. Depart. Hist. Nat. Cali, 1(1), en prensa.
Mayr, E. (1964). Inferences concerning the Tertiary American bird faunas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 51: 280–288.
Miller, A. H. (1947). The tropical avifauna of the upper Magdalena Valley, Colombia. The Auk, 64: 351–381.
Miller, A. H. (1952). Supplementary data on the tropical avifauna of the arid upper Magdalena Valley of Colombia. The Auk, 69: 450–457.
Phelps, W. H. & Phelps, W. H. Jr. (1958). Lista de las aves de Venezuela con su distribución. No-Passeriformes. Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, 19(90): 1–317 (paginación de la separata).
Phelps, W. H. & Phelps, W. H. Jr. (1963). Ídem. Passeriformes (segunda edición). Ibid., 24(104–105): 1–479 (paginación de la separata).
Sick, H. (1959). Ein neuer Sittich aus Brasilien: Aratinga cactorum paraensis, subsp. nova. J. Ornithol., 100: 413–416.
Sick, H. (1963). Aratinga cactorum paraensis, Angehöriger des Formenkreises Aratinga pertinax. Ibid., 104: 441–443.
Sick, H. (1965). A fauna do Cerrado. Arquivos de Zoologia, São Paulo, 12: 71–93.
Sick, H. (1966). As aves do Cerrado, com a fauna arborícola. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, 38: 3515–363.
Todd, C. T. & Carriker, M. A. Jr. (1922). The birds of the Santa Marta region of Colombia: a study in altitudinal distribution. Annals of the Carnegie Museum, 14: 1–611.
Wetmore, A. (1957). The birds of Isla Coiba, Panamá. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 134(9): 1–105.

How to cite

Jürgen Haffer (1967). Zoogeographical notes on the nonforest lowland bird faunas of northwestern South America. El Hornero, Vol. 10 No. 4 (1967), 315-333. https://doi.org/10.56178/eh.v10i4.1295

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[1] Bakker, J. P. (1954). Über den Einfluss von Klima, jüngerer Sedimentation und Bodenprofilentwicklung an die Savannen von Nord-Surinam (Mittelguayana). Erdkunde, 8(2): 89–112.

[2] Barnes, V. & Phelps, W. H. (1940). Las aves de la península de Paraguaná. Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, 46: 1–33.

[3] Borrero, J. I. & Hernández-Camacho, J. (1958). Apuntes sobre aves colombianas. Caldasia, 8(37): 253–294.

[4] Borrero, J. I. & Olivares, A. (1955). Avifauna de la región de Sibatá, departamento de Boyacá, Colombia. Caldasia, 7(31): 51–81.

[5] Chapman, F. M.(1917). The distribution of bird-life in Colombia; a contribution to a biological survey of South America. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 36: 1–729, 41 pls., 21 figs.

[6] – (1921). The distribution of bird-life in the Urubamba Valley of Peru. Smithsonian Institution, U.S. National Museum Bulletin, 117: 1–138, 9 pls., 3 maps.

[7] – (1926). The distribution of bird-life in Ecuador; a contribution to a study of the origin of Andean bird-life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 55: 1–784, 30 pls., 20 figs.

[8] Cole, M. M. (1960). Cerrado, caatinga and Pantanal: The distribution and origin of the savanna vegetation of Brazil. The Geographical Journal, 126: 166–179.

[9] Croxat, L. (1958). Panbiogeography, Vol. 1 (The New World). XXI + 1018 pp. Caracas (published by the author).

[10] De Schauensee, R. M.(1948–1952). The birds of the Republic of Colombia. Caldasia, 5(22–26): 251–1214.

[11] – (1964). The birds of Colombia and adjacent areas of South and Central America. XVI + 427 pp., 20 pls. Livingston Publishing Co., Narberth, Pennsylvania.

[12] – (1966). The species of birds of South America. XVIII + 577 pp. Livingston Publishing Co., Narberth, Pennsylvania.

[13] Dorst, J. (1957). Contribution à l'étude écologique des oiseaux du Haut Marañón (Pérou septentrional). L'Oiseau et la Revue Française d'Ornithologie, 27: 235–269.

[14] Duellman, W. E.(1960). A distributional study of the amphibians of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History, 13: 19–72.

[15] – (1966). The Central American herpetofauna: An ecological perspective. Copeia, 1966: 700–719.

[16] Eisenmann, E. (1955). The species of Middle American birds. Transactions of the Linnaean Society of New York, 7: 1–128.

[17] Haffer, J. (1961). Notas sobre la avifauna de la península de la Guajira. Novedades Colombianas, 1(6): 374–396.

[18] – (1967). Speciation in Colombian forest birds west of the Andes. American Museum Novitates, 2294: 1–57.

[19] Hueck, K. (1960). Mapas de vegetación de la República de Venezuela. Instituto Forestal, Mérida, Boletín 7: 1–16.

[20] – (1966). Die Wälder Südamerikas; Ökologie, Zusammensetzung und wirtschaftliche Bedeutung. XX + 422 pp. In Vegetationsmonographien der einzelnen Grossräume, ed. H. Walter. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart.

[21] Koepcke, H. W. (1961). Synökologische Studien an der Westseite der peruanischen Anden. Bonner Geographische Abhandlungen, 29: 1–320, 112 fig.

[22] Koepcke, M. (1962). Zur Kenntnis der in Peru lebenden Tauben der Gattung Columbigallina Boie. Beitr. Neotrop. Fauna, 2(4): 295–301.

[23] Lauer, W. (1959). Klimatische und pflanzengeographische Grundzüge Zentralamerikas. Erdkunde, 13: 344–355.

[24] Lehmann, F. C. & Haffer, J. (1967). La avifauna del valle del alto Río Patía, departamento del Cauca, Colombia. Rupicola, Contrib. Cient. Mus. Depart. Hist. Nat. Cali, 1(1), en prensa.

[25] Mayr, E. (1964). Inferences concerning the Tertiary American bird faunas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 51: 280–288.

[26] Miller, A. H. (1947). The tropical avifauna of the upper Magdalena Valley, Colombia. The Auk, 64: 351–381.

[27] Miller, A. H. (1952). Supplementary data on the tropical avifauna of the arid upper Magdalena Valley of Colombia. The Auk, 69: 450–457.

[28] Phelps, W. H. & Phelps, W. H. Jr. (1958). Lista de las aves de Venezuela con su distribución. No-Passeriformes. Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, 19(90): 1–317 (paginación de la separata).

[29] Phelps, W. H. & Phelps, W. H. Jr. (1963). Ídem. Passeriformes (segunda edición). Ibid., 24(104–105): 1–479 (paginación de la separata).

[30] Sick, H. (1959). Ein neuer Sittich aus Brasilien: Aratinga cactorum paraensis, subsp. nova. J. Ornithol., 100: 413–416.

[31] Sick, H. (1963). Aratinga cactorum paraensis, Angehöriger des Formenkreises Aratinga pertinax. Ibid., 104: 441–443.

[32] Sick, H. (1965). A fauna do Cerrado. Arquivos de Zoologia, São Paulo, 12: 71–93.

[33] Sick, H. (1966). As aves do Cerrado, com a fauna arborícola. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, 38: 3515–363.

[34] Todd, C. T. & Carriker, M. A. Jr. (1922). The birds of the Santa Marta region of Colombia: a study in altitudinal distribution. Annals of the Carnegie Museum, 14: 1–611.

[35] Wetmore, A. (1957). The birds of Isla Coiba, Panamá. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 134(9): 1–105.