flamingos monitoring nomadic waterfowl protected natural area wintering sites
How to Cite
Cursach, Jaime A., Claudio Delgado, Luis Espinosa, and Ana M. Pfeifer. 2025. “Abundance of the Chilean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus Chilensis) in the Wetlands of the Maullin River Nature Sanctuary, Southern Chile”. El Hornero 40 (1): 81-87. https://doi.org/10.56178/eh.v40i1.1506.
The coastal wetlands of the Maullin River are one of the most important wintering areas for migratory shorebirds in Chile, where regular monitoring is part of the contributions of the Fundacion Conservacion Marina for the creation and implementation of the Santuario de la Naturaleza Humedales del río Maullin (SNHRM). Here we present an analysis of the results of the census of Chilean flamingos (Phoenicopterus chilensis), between the years 2015-2020, in three coastal wetlands of the Maullin River. The abundance of the Chilean Flamingo in the SNHRM fluctuated between seasons. The abundances in autumn and winter were higher than in spring and summer. During the study period, the seasonal abundance of flamingos averaged 46 individuals (min= 8; max= 138) in summer, 873 (min= 157; max= 1917) in autumn, 1065 (min= 460; max= 1869) in winter, and 97 (min= 33; max= 212) in spring. Among the three wetlands studied, the Amortajado wetland presented the highest abundance of flamingos, followed by the Las Lajas wetland and Laguna Quenuir. The results obtained provide a baseline for an evaluation of the protected natural area’s management plan and for the development of new research.
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