List of documented bird species from the municipality of Ubatuba, state of São Paulo, Brazil

List of documented bird species from the municipality of Ubatuba, state of São Paulo, Brazil

Rick Simpson^I,III; Vagner Cavarzere^II; Elis Simpson^I,IV

^ICorresponding author: Rua Paulo Setúbal, nº 245, apto. 401, Itaguá, 11680-000, Ubatuba, SP, Brasil.

^IISeção de Aves, Museu de Zoologia, Univ. de São Paulo. Caixa Postal 42.494, 04218-970, São Paulo, SP, Brasil. E-mail: [e-mail]

^IIIE-mail: [e-mail]

^IVE-mail: [e-mail]

RESUMO

Embora estudos preliminares tenham sido realizados em Ubatuba, localidade situada em área de Mata Atlântica, ainda não existe uma listagem dos registros documentados das espécies de aves deste município litorâneo. Para a realização deste compêndio foi realizada busca na literatura, assim como outras fontes, dos registros documentados das espécies de aves de Ubatuba, Estado de São Paulo. Adicionalmente, inventários não sistematizados seguindo a metodologia de transecção linear foram conduzidos ao longo dos últimos sete anos em diferentes regiões e altitudes do município para o registro documentado das espécies. O número total de espécies documentadas foi de 417, das quais 11% são endêmicas do Brasil. Outros 26% representam endemismos da Mata Atlântica e 60 espécies estão ameaçadas ou quase ameaçadas de extinção no Estado. Espécies reportadas para o município, porém sem documentação, somaram 49, incluídas em 27 famílias. Comparando-se os registros atuais com os históricos, nenhuma espécie foi extinta do município. Ubatuba é uma das regiões mais conhecidas ornitologicamente da Serra do Mar paulista, mas ainda há algumas localidades em maiores altitudes que devem trazer novos registros para a área com o aumento dos esforços de observação de aves em tais locais.

Palavras-Chave: Avifauna; Mata Atlântica; Registros documentados; Serra do Mar; Transecções lineares.

ABSTRACT

Although preliminary surveys have been conducted at the Atlantic Forest of Ubatuba, there is no list of documented bird records from this coastline municipality. To organize such a compilation, we searched the literature and a number of different sources for all documented records of birds from Ubatuba, state of São Paulo. We further carried out a 7-year non-systematic bird inventory in different regions and elevations to document the species within the municipality. The total number of documented bird species is 417, 11% of which are endemic to Brazil. Another 26% are Atlantic Forest endemics and as many as 60 species are under threat categories, including near-threatened birds, in the state. Some 49 species of 27 families are reported from the municipality but still lack documentation. Considering historical records, no species have extinguished from the municipality. Ubatuba is one of the most studied regions along Serra do Mar in São Paulo regarding its ornithology, but there are still high-elevational gaps that will yield significant additions of species to the area with increasing surveying efforts.

Key-Words: Atlantic Forest; Avifauna; Documentation of records; Serra do Mar; Transect counts.

Introduction

The Atlantic Forest, a hotspot of biodiversity, originally stretched from the states of Rio Grande do Norte to Rio Grande do Sul, following the Brazilian coastline and adjacent areas in Argentina and Paraguay, encompassing 27 degrees of latitude. Very variable in relief and rainfall regimes, this domain comprises at least three types of rain forests: ombrophylus forests, southern semi-deciduous and deciduous forests and southern ombrophylus mist forests, also known as Araucaria forests (Joly et al., 1999; Myers et al., 2000; Oliveira Filho & Fontes, 2000). The Atlantic Forest is recognized for its large number of species, ca. 1-8% of the world’s total species, and high number of endemic species, including 16% of its birds (199 endemics; Parker et al., 1996; Silva & Casteleti, 2003). Despite this biological richness, it is probably one of the most highly threatened tropical forests due to a long history of degradation and human occupation, which resulted in 80% of endemic bird species being threatened and endangered (Lino, 1992; Goerck, 1997).

The state of São Paulo has two terrestrial biomes (Atlantic Forest and Cerrado), as well as marine environments. As a result, this diversity propitiates various types of habitats for bird species, such as rain forests, semi-deciduous forests, savannahs and inshore and insular habitats. With inventories that date as far as the XIX century (Willis & Oniki, 2003), to date, São Paulo has 793 species of birds recorded (Silveira & Uezu, 2011). The coastline municipality of Ubatuba lies largely in Serra do Mar, a large mountain range and one of the last remaining continuous blocks of Atlantic Forest in the state. There have been bird inventories carried out at Estação Experimental de Ubatuba in 1976 (Willis & Oniki, 1981) and by Goerck (1999), who published a list as part of her study of birds along an elevational gradient at the Corcovado Mountain. More recently papers by Galetti et al. (2009) and Dario & Vincenzo (2011) were produced about the birds of Anchieta Island and a remnant of restinga, respectively. Other records, including vouchers housed in museums in different countries and field trips between 1976 and 1997, have been compiled by Willis & Oniki (2003), resulting in 359 terrestrial bird species.

Although known globally to birdwatchers, the birds of Ubatuba have briefly been inventoried and most of these records remain undocumented. Some attempts to produce bird checklists for Ubatuba have resulted in several mistaken identifications, especially due to lack of documentation. Here we wished to compile all documented records of birds from Ubatuba, including museum specimens and recently documented records while developing a 7-year non-systematic bird inventory at many localities of this municipality. We further specify the type of documentation (skins, photographs or recordings) for each species.

Material and Methods

Study area

Ubatuba (23°26’S, 45°04’W) is a coastline municipality in the state of São Paulo, south-eastern Brazil. Within the municipality (an area of approximately 712 km²) there is Atlantic Forest from sea level to 1,670 m, 83% of which is covered by the Serra do Mar State Park and, as such, is protected. It has borders with four other municipalities in the state: Caraguatatuba, Cunha, Natividade da Serra and São Luiz do Paraitinga, and another in the state of Rio de Janeiro (Parati; Figure 1). There is a significant amount of secondary forest, especially in lowland areas. Little restinga (white sand forest) remains intact, but fragments can still be found. There are many rivers that cut down from the Serra do Mar to the sea, providing estuary environments and some remaining fragments of mangrove. Extensive marshy areas dominated by reed beds at the northern end of the municipality add still more environmental diversity. The coastline provides further species along the beaches, in the bays and inshore waters.

The climate, ‘Af’ in Köppen’s climate classification, has two well defined seasons: a warm-wet season from October to April, and a cold-dry season from May to September (Almeida-Neto et al., 2006). Between 1961 and 1990 (climatological information collected by the Seção de Climatologia do Instituto Agronômico de Campinas in the Estação Experimental de Ubatuba), the mean annual rainfall and temperature were 2,624 mm and 21.9°C, respectively. During the warm-wet season, January was the rainiest month (376 mm) while June had 87.9 mm of rain. February was the hottest month (30.4°C) and July was the coldest (12.6°C; Sanchez et al., 1999).

Data collection

Documented records

We searched for specimens collected in the municipality of Ubatuba in Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo (MZUSP) and Museu de Zoologia da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (ZUEC). Live birds reported from the Instituto Argonauta (IA) were also considered. IA is a Non Governmental Organization that rescues stranded and injured birds attempting to rehabilitate them for future release back into the wild. The majority of these specimens are found by the general public and either collected by the institute staff or deposited there by the finder. We also have included species that have been deposited at the Museu de História Natural de Taubaté (MHNT). Additionally, we were able to provide much of the documentation with photographs taken by ES, photographers known to us personally and then by searching the archives of Wikiaves (www.wikiaves.com.br) looking for birds registered within the municipality. We also researched sound recordings that had been made in Ubatuba on Wikiaves and Xeno-Canto (www.xeno-canto.org). Access to the sound files of Jeremy Minns, who has been recording birds in the area for 15 years, greatly assisted our research.

Literature

We searched for articles, thesis and books or book chapters on Ubatuba birds on Web of Knowledge (http://pcs.isiknowledge.com) and Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com.br) using combinations of key words and title words: aves, avifauna, birds, Ubatuba. Undocumented records were listed separately (see below).

Field work

We carried out opportunistic unlimited-distance transect counts from March 2006/January 2012. Most observations started 10-15 min before sunrise and lasted for at least two hours. On some occasions we conducted transects after 17:00 h until after dark to record nocturnal species. Bird records consisted of individuals seen, with the help of 8 × 40, 10 × 40 and 10 × 42 mm binoculars as well as a 30 times magnification telescope, and/or heard. To detect cryptic species we used the play-back technique. We conducted observations at several different locations encompassing different habitats and elevations. Each site is denoted by geographical coordinates, elevation, a short description, dates and number of visits and sampling effort in hours:

(1) Cambucá (23°22’S, 44°50’W; 15 m). Ex-sand extraction pit surrounded by intermediate and advanced successional stages of Atlantic Forest. Now forms part of Serra do Mar State Park (SMSP) Picinguaba Nucleus. Visited 10 times from January 2008-July 2010, 10 h;

(2) Fazenda Angelim (23°24’S, 45°03’W; 19 m). Privately owned conservation area at the base of Serra do Mar, formerly used as cacao plantation. Contains intermediate and advanced successional stages of Atlantic Forest with trails that ascend the slope of the Serra do Mar up to 100 m. Visited 95 times from June 2007-April 2011, 475 h;

(3) Fazenda Capricórnio (23°23’S, 45°04’W; 27 m). Privately owned cacao plantation at the base of Serra do Mar where production has ceased. Contains intermediate and advanced successional stages of Atlantic Forest with trails up to approximately 100 m. Visited 33 times from August 2007-September 2009, 66 h;

(4) Folha Seca Road (23°28’S, 45°10’W; 27 m). Near the Corcovado Mountains. Advanced successional stages of forests are continuous to SMSP. Visited 124 times from March 2006-January 2012, 543 h;

(5) Itamambuca (23°24’S, 45°00’W; 2 m). An area of lots containing many uncut areas of early and intermediate successional stages of forests. Beach and river mouth habitats. Visited 15 times from June 2007-November 2010, 15 h;

(6) Perequê-Açu (23°24’S, 45°02’W, 0 m). Tidal mouth of the River Indaiá with tidal mud banks, beach and mangrove habitats. Visited 13 times from September 2008-May 2011, 6.5 h;

(7) Ranário (23°23’S, 45°01’W; 11 m) Ex-frog farm surrounded by forested slopes with both intermediate and advanced successional stages of Atlantic Forest. Visited 21 times from March 2009-May 2011, 42 h;

(8) Rancho Pica-Pau (23°23S’, 45°03’W; 11 m). Camping and recreation area comprising a large open area with artificial water courses surrounded by both intermediate and advanced successional stages of Atlantic Forest at the base of Serra do Mar. Visited 101 times from March 2009-February 2010, 404 h;

(9) Serra Trail (23°29’S, 45°12’W; 980 m). Highland advanced successional stages of Atlantic Forest. Visited 10 times from April 2010-May 2011, 10 h;

(10) Ubatumirim (23°33’S, 44°53’W; 2 m). Marshland comprising Typha sp. reed beds surrounded by early and intermediate successional stages of Atlantic Forest with beach and tidal river mouth habitats. Visited 32 times from October 2010-May 2011, 96 h.

The following represent non specific sites where there were occasional visits but no regular inventory made: Ubatuba Airport (23°26’S, 45°04’W), Corcovado Village (23°26’S, 45°11’W), Fishing Port (23°25’S, 45°04’W), Ponta Grossa (23°25’S, 45°03’W), Prumirim (23°22’S, 44°57’W), Picinguaba (Praia Fazenda, 23°22’S, 44°50’W), Itaguá (23°27’S, 45°03’W), Praia Vermelha do Sul (23°30’S, 45°10’W) and Praia Dura (23°29’S, 45°10’W).

The taxonomic status and sequence of all species, families and orders followed the Comitê Brasileiro de Registros Ornitológicos (CBRO, 2011). For threatened species we followed Silveira et al. (2009), Silveira & Straube (2008) and IUCN (2010) for state, national and global threat levels, respectively. For Atlantic Forest endemics we followed Parker et al. (1996), except for Notharchus swainsoni, treated by these authors as a subspecies of N. macrorhynchos, and for Knipolegus nigerrimus, which subspecies K. n. hoflingi is known to occur in caatinga habitats (Lencioni-Neto, 1996; Las-Casas & Azevedo-Junior, 2008).

Bird status

In the list we have placed each species in one of three categories depending on their abundance. Nominally, those that have more than 50 documented records (the highest numbers of documentations were > 100) and are easily found in the municipality have been designated as common. Species with 49-5 documented records were designated as uncommon and finally, those with four or less records were designated as rare.

Sea birds, the majority of which are pelagic and rarely seen from shore (although some breed on offshore islands), that have been washed up dead on the shore or recovered alive were not considered residents. Their presence may relate to migratory movements or vagrant or accidental individuals rather than residents of Ubatuba’s most well represented habitat, the Atlantic Forest. However, they have been included in the interests of completeness.

Results and Discussion

The total number of bird species found to have documentation in Ubatuba is 405 (+ 12 seabirds) of 23 orders (+ three seabird orders) and 72 families (+ three seabird families). Of these, 45 (11%) species are considered endemic to Brazil (CBRO, 2011), 109 (26%) species are Atlantic Forest endemics, and one is endemic to the Cerrado region (Silva, 1995). Some 39 species (9%) are under a threat category in the state of São Paulo, including eight critically endangered species (Silveira et al., 2009). Species threatened in Brazil, according to Silveira & Straube’s (2008) red-list summed seven. Globally threatened birds (IUCN, 2010) were represented by 10 species, including 24 near-threatened species. Some 162 (39%) species are regularly seen in the appropriate season and can be considered as common whereas another 159 uncommon species (38%) are occasionally documented. There are 93 rare (23%) species that have been seldom recorded in the municipality. While most literature records are undocumented, the efforts of the early XX century naturalist E. Garbe, who passed through Ubatuba from March-April 1905 and collected many specimens now housed at MZUSP, became the base for our compilation. Another important collector was J. Lima, who collected specimens in November 1943 (Pinto, 1945). The MZUSP collection houses 109 species from Ubatuba while the ZUEC collection accounted for 14 species. Two species have been included from MHNT (Appendix).

After 431 days of field work we accumulated approximately 1,700 hours and 1,500 km of non-systematic transect counts of birds. The photographic documentation could be divided into three categories: photos by ES (204 species) and VC (one species), by photographers known to us personally (35 species) or taken from Wikiaves (133 species). Most of the recordings are from J. Minns (185 species) and a few of them (16) are the partial result of a 4-year bird monitoring program (2006-2009) of Folha Seca Road lowland forests conducted by VC. There are also four unique recordings by R. Gagliardi and ES. Xeno-canto added one exclusive record (XC6190), Thamnophilus palliatus, considered a recently arrived species in São Paulo (Santos et al., 2009), but no recordings from Wikiaves added new documented species. Photographs represented 157 exclusive documented records, whereas 17 recordings (including Xeno-canto’s) and 16 museum skins accounted for the remaining unique documented records. Finally, some feathers indicate the presence of the Great Horner Owl Bubo virginianus (Crozariol & Almeida, 2006). Some 49 species of 27 families were only recorded by sight or aurally, either by other investigators or during our recent inventories (Table 1).

The following species may refer to escapes and, therefore, were not considered for the final analysis: Peach-fronted Parakeet Aratinga aurea, typical of cerrado landscapes and absent from rain forests, this species was photographed at Toninhas by E. Rotenberg. The Cactus Parakeet Aratinga cactorum, a caatinga endemic (Olmos et al., 2005) has one record of a bird found dead in Toninhas and photographed by E. Rotenberg. Finally, there is one recorded of the Blue-fronted Parrot Amazona aestiva, typical of cerrado landscapes, including semideciduous forests; one bird seen free flying and feeding on fruiting trees for several days in Itaguá and photographed by ES 23^rd October 2008.

Documented species recorded once in the municipality fall under one of the following situations: a single individual at a specific place during a continuous time period (Austral Negrito Lessonia rufa), two or more individuals of the same species under the same conditions (Whistling Duck Dendrocygna bicolor), a species recorded over a non-continuous time period by several observers where it is thought that just one individual or group of individuals is concerned (King Vulture Sarcoramphus papa) or where the only known record is of a single skin (Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus).

Unique photographic records represented accidental or migratory species, such as Cathartes burrovianus, Amadonastur lacernulatus, Spizaetus malanoleucus, several Scolopacidae members and Chlorophonia cyanea. Some typical high-elevation species also fall into this category, such as Stephanoxis lalandi, Stephanophorus diadematus, Poospiza lateralis and Chlorophonia cyanea. Species with only sound records were those commonly registered in the Atlantic Forest, yet hardly ever photographed due to their shy behaviour. However, they are easily detected by vocalizations. Some examples are Crypturellus sp., Odontophorus capueira, Micrastur sp., Chaetura cinereiventris and Grallaria varia. Other such recordings are of typical high-elevation species (Dysithamnus xanthopterus) and of Thamnophilus caerulescens. This latter thamnophilidae can be found at lower elevations in southern portions of the state (Develey, 2004; Lima, 2010), but it seems to be restricted to higher elevations in the Ubatuba region. Unique records from museums represent either a very restricted-habitat species (Asio flammeus), or high-elevation species, such as Phaethornis eurynome, Piculus aurulentus and Chamaeza ruficauda. Except for A. flammeus, no other species deposited in museums since the early 1900 were no longer represented by recent documentations. Therefore, no bird extinctions can be suggested for Ubatuba.

Species to be found at higher elevations are little studied and are under-represented in our results as the main surveyed habitats in Ubatuba are lowland forests. High-elevation sites, such as the Corcovado Mountains, are not well established bird-watching routes. However, expeditions to the top of Serra do Mar within Ubatuba would certainly add more vital information about these highland species. These unique records represent populations that have been overlooked or not well-documented previously simply due to lack of high-elevation surveys. Some species that undertake elevational and seasonal migrations have been well enough documented at sea level, such as the Ochre-rumped Antbird Drymophila ochropyga, the Brassy-breasted Tanager Tangara desmaresti and the Blue-naped Chlorophonia Chlorophonia cyanea. These records corroborate the hypothesis that high-elevation species can descend to sea level if forests are continuous (Cavarzere, 2010).

Noteworthy records

Harpy Eagle Harpia harpyja – There is at least one documented record of a skin deposited in a foreign museum searched by Willis & Oniki (2003). The collecting locality is not precise (Ubatuba) and will probably remain innacurate. Few Argentine birds may visit the state during the winter from Missiones (Galetti et al. 1997) but recent field records are from Cananéia, a coastline municipality situated in the southern portion of the state (Willis & Oniki, 2003).

Willet Tringa semipalmata – First record from the state of São Paulo (Simpson & Simpson, 2011b).

Brown Noddy Anous stolidus – Although we did not consider seabirds as residents, this is the first documented record of this species for the state of São Paulo (Simpson & Simpson, 2010).

Sungrebe Heliornis fulica – At least one individual collected at Vila Poruba, as stated by Willis & Oniki (2003). J.F. Pacheco registered another individual at Itamambuca 8^th January 2010, with no documentation.

Brown-backed Parrotlet Touit melanonotus – One of the most emblematic Ubatuba species. An Atlantic Forest endemic, it has recently been easy to observe during summer months in big flocks in lowland forests around Praia Vermelha do Sul. This is the only site in Brazil where the species can be regularly seen.

Black-necked Aracari Pteroglossus aracari – At least one individual from Vila Poruba. It is much commoner in semideciduous forests of the interior of the state, with only one additional documented record from a southern coastline municipality, Itanhaém (Willis & Oniki, 2003). It seems rare in São Paulo’s rain forests, but regularly found in this same environment north of the state of Rio de Janeiro to southern state of Bahia (Pinto, 1951; Willis & Oniki, 2002; Silveira et al. 2005).

Buff-throated Purpletuft Iodopleura pipra – As suggested by Camargo & Camargo (1964), the species is found not only in southern São Paulo, but also at the northeast portion of the state. It is perhaps easiest to see in Ubatuba, readily found at Rancho Pica-Pau and also Fazenda Angelim due to their more open vegetation.

Solitary Tinamou Tinamus solitarius – We gathered few records of this species (some records at Folha Seca Road and one individual photographed at Fazenda Angelim). It probably means that poaching is common in these lowland forests as the species was very common in lowland forests in the coastline municipality of Bertioga, ca. 115 km west of Ubatuba (pers. obs.). The absence of the Black-fronted Piping-Guan Aburria jacutinga also suggests pouching. Despite suitable habitat (streams, primary forests, fruiting palm trees Euterpe edulis), it was not observed during seven years, while it took only two visits to find three individuals of this species in lowland forests in the region of Bertioga (pers. obs.).

Scarlet Ibis Eudocimus ruber – We photographed one male in breeding condition at Perequê-Açu on 11 January 2011 (Simpson & Simpson, 2011a). No other record has been made for the species and it probably represents an accidental record as large reproductive sites can be found at southern mangroves (Olmos & Silva, 2003).

The record of the Red-browed Parrot Amazona rhodocorytha by P. Martuscelli at Trilha do Corisco, Picinguaba (Willis & Oniki, 2003), was errouneously "transfered" to the state of São Paulo because the site where it was registered (23°17’24.20"S 44°38’30.21"W) was somewhat close (~ 20 km) to the boundries between São Paulo and the state of Rio de Janeiro (Silveira et al., 2009).

Short-tailed Antthrush Chamaeza campanisona – Typically found at higher elevations in the Atlantic Forest, it can descend to near sea level in the northern Ribeira Valley, south-east São Paulo (Willis, 1992). This is the first low-elevation record of the species for the Serra do Mar mountain range.

Tawny-throated Leaftosser Sclerurus mexicanus – Although it has been documented at Serra de Paranapiacaba (Aleixo & Galetti, 1997; Antunes et al., 2011), the southernmost range of this species in Serra do Mar seems to be Ubatuba. There is a male S. mexicanus (MZUSP 62446) collected at "Varjão do Rio Guaratuba", Bertioga, on 24 October 1972. However, we did not encounter the species in extensive transect and point counts at this same locality from 2008-2009 (pers. obs.). The species currently has no documentation or records for São Sebastião and Caraguatatuba (Willis & Oniki, 2003), coastline municipalities between Bertioga and Ubatuba. The congeneric Rufous-breasted Leaftosser (Sclerurus scansor) has been recorded sympatrically at Folha Seca.

Austral Negrito Lessonia rufa – It represents the second documented record for the state and the most northerly documented record of the species in Brazil (Simpson & Simpson, 2011c.). One juvenile individual was photographed on a grassy open field, probably representing an accidental record.

Red-legged Honey-creeper Cyanerpes cyaneus – The species is known to breed as far south as Rio de Janeiro in Atlantic Forest regions and it has been reported from the interior of São Paulo (Willis & Oniki, 1987). However, this is the first documented record for the state, probably another accidental encounter.

Cinereous Warbling Finch Poospiza cinerea – In the state of São Paulo this cerrado endemic species is considered to be critically endangered. It probably represents a vagrant individual during a migratory movement. One record, photographed at a Folha Seca Road marsh by G. Bernadon in early 2010.

Buffy-fronted Seedeater Sporophila frontalis and Temminck’s Seedeater S. falcirostris – These two species (as well as Uniform Finch Haplospiza unicolor) did not show high abundances in Ubatuba during 17 h in September and October 2007 and for 3.5 h in March 2009. S. falcirostris, although not abundant, was detected at the Folha Seca site in 71% of all visits conducted along seven years. As opposed to these observations, several individuals were seen at Boracéia Biological Station, at the highland municipality of Salesópolis, São Paulo, on 25-28 February 2010 (Cavarzere et al., 2010) and at the municipality of São José dos Campos, São Paulo, on late April and early May 2010 (pers. obs.). They are supposed to follow bamboo mast-seeding in the Atlantic Forest (Olmos, 1996; Vasconcelos et al., 2005), but we failed to observe a single individual feeding on bamboo seeds at those latter locations. Most seeds had apparently already been consumed by the time we searched for them, while the birds stayed in the area for more than one month. During our visits in August and September 2007 to Folha Seca, S. frontalis and S. falcirostris did not show a booming pattern. Instead, they were recorded evenly throughout our visits, as if resident, cryptic species. We also heard a lone S. frontalis on 21 April 2009 at Boracéia Biological Station (800 m; Cavarzere et al., 2010), another one in a bamboo-absent secondary lowland forest on 20 October 2010 in São Sebastião, and three distinct individuals from three different localities in June 2011 at Itatiaia National Park, Rio de Janeiro (pers. obs.). These encounters suggest the species is resident in some Atlantic Forest localities and aggregate during special occasions, such as bamboo mast-seeding flourishing. Since both species are not regularly recorded in any one site (BirdLife, 2012a,b), stronger evidence is needed to corroborate this assumption.

Unicoloured Blackbird Agelasticus cyanopus – The species has several records for São Paulo, including marshy areas of Bertioga (pers. obs.), but the habitat in which it is common in Ubatuba is being destroyed to build a condominium. Although considered as uncommon, in the future the species will be rare or even extinct at that site.

Regarding its bird species, Ubatuba is still understudied and deserves to be more thoroughly investigated as many remain to be recorded or documented. We could compile 417 documented species for this municipality, but future scientifically well-designed research, including different inventory methods such as mist nets, must be carried out in order to document its bird diversity. With the exception of Picinguaba Nucleus of SMSP, the majority of lowland forests in Ubatuba are currently unprotected. Most of this conservation unit’s threshold of protection does not incorporate elevations below 100 m (São Paulo, 1977) and, therefore, conservation priorities must be taken to protect the few intact surviving lowland forests in São Paulo. Furthermore, the municipality has the potential to embrace bird watching tourism and, hence, support an eco-touristic activity that necessarily keeps forests standing.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the following for their contributions to this study: Jeremy Minns for access to his records, advice and proof reading, Luís F. Silveira for his help with this manuscript, and staff at Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo for their help, learned conversation and good-natured company. Herculano Alvarenga is thanked for his comments and advice and Fábio Olmos for his helpful suggestions. Jonas D’Abronzo was most welcoming and Gabriel P. Moraes helped several times during data collection. Rafael S. Marcondes produced the map. Two anonymous referees greatly improved the first version of this manuscript.

Aceito em: 02.02.2012

Publicado em: 29.06.2012

^Appendix

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• Almeida-Neto, M.; Machado, G.; Pinto-da-Rocha, R. & Giaretta, A.A. 2006. Harvestman (Arachnida: Opiliones) species distribution along three neotropical elevational gradients: an alternative rescue effect to explain Rapoports rule? Journal of Biogeography, 33:361-375.
• Antunes, A.Z.; Eston, M.R.; Silva, B.G. & Santos, A.M.R. 2011. Comparação entre as comunidades de aves de duas fitofisionomias florestais contíguas no Parque Estadual Carlos Botelho, SP. Neotropical Biology and Conservation, 6:213-226.
• BirdLife International. 2012a. Species facsheet: Sporophila falcirostris. Available at: <www.birdlife.org>. Access in: 19/01/2012.
• BirdLife International. 2012b. Species facsheet: Sporophila frontalis. Available at: <www.birdlife.org>. Access in: 19/01/2012.
• Camargo, H.F.A. & Camargo, E.A. 1964. Ocorrência de Iodopleura p. pipra no Estado de São Paulo, Brasil, e algumas notas sobre Iodopleura isabellae (Aves, Cotingidae). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 16:45-55.
• Cavarzere, V. 2010. Distribuição das aves ao longo de um gradiente altitudinal na Serra do Mar do estado de São Paulo, Brasil. (Dissertação de Mestrado). Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo.
• Cavarzere, V.; Moraes, G.P. & Silveira, L.F. 2010. Boracéia Biological Station: an ornithological review. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 50:189-201.
• CBRO Comitê Brasileiro de Registros Ornitologicos. 2011. Lista das aves do Brasil. Available at: <www.cbro.org.br/index>. Access in: 06/05/2011.
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Appendix

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  26 June 2012
• Date of issue
  2012

History

• Received
  02 Feb 2012
• Accepted
  29 June 2012