Status of the Endemic Atitlan Grebe of Guatemala: Is It Extinct? ’
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The Condor 90:906-912 0 The Cooper Ornithological Soaety 1988 STATUS OF THE ENDEMIC ATITLAN GREBE OF GUATEMALA: IS IT EXTINCT? ’ LAURIE A. HUNTERS Zoology Department, North Dakota State University,Fargo, ND 58105 Abstract. Effortsto determine the factorsresponsible for the long-term population decline of the Atitlan Grebe (Podilymbusgigus), a speciesrestricted to Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, led to the discovery that the only Podilymbusspecies present on Lake Atitlan in 1986-1987 was the Pied-billed Grebe (P. podiceps).Podilymbus gigas is similar to P. podicepsin color and form but is almost twice the weight, and is reported to be flightless. All Podilymbus grebes at Lake Atitlan in 1986-1987 appeared to be the same size, and the body masses and bill measurementsof six capturedgrebes were within the range of P. podiceps,but not that of P. gigus.Grebe eggsmeasured at both Lake AtitlCm and Laguna de1 Pino, another Guatemalan lake, were similar to each other and to eggsof P. podicepsfrom North America. The territorial calls of male Podilymbusgrebes recorded at Lake Atitlan, Laguna de1Pino and West Toqua Lake in Minnesota did not differ significantly.It thus appearsthat P. gigus no longer occurson Lake AtitlLn and hasbeen replaced,perhaps through competition or hybridization,by P. podiceps. Key words: Atitlan Grebe;Podilymbus gigas;Pied-billed Grebe;Podilymbus podiceps; Lake Atitlrin; Guatemala; extinction. INTRODUCTION were to assessthe current statusof the population The Atitlan Grebe (Podilymbusgigas) is known and to identify the factors responsible for its de- only from Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. First de- cline using data on behavioral interactions, ter- scribed in 1929, P. gigus is essentially a larger ritorial calls, and morphometric measures. version of the Pied-billed Grebe (P. podiceps) with a few minor color differences, such as a METHODS darker head, neck, and belly (Griscom 1929). From March 1986 to June 1987, I observed Po- Although P. gigas is almost twice as heavy as P. dilymbusgrebes at two sitesin Guatemala. Most podiceps,the two specieshave roughly similar of the researchwas conducted at Lake Atitlan, a wing lengths, and P. gigas is reported to be flight- 130-km2 volcanic lake in the southwestern sec- less (LaBastille 1974). Prior to 1965, the popu- tion of Guatemala. Territorial birds were located lation of P. gigas on Lake Atitlan was estimated by playing recorded territorial calls of male Po- to be about 200 (Griscom 1932, Wetmore 194 1, dilymbusgrebes. The recordingswere played from Bowes and Bowes 1962), but a decreaseto 80 in a motorboat stationed approximately 20 m from 1965 placed the speciesin danger of extinction bulrush (Scirpus culifornicus)and cattail (Typha and led to vigorous conservation efforts to pro- domingensis)stands that were 10 m long or long- tect it (LaBastille 1974). In 1975, the population er and that might serve as suitable nesting hab- temporarily recovered to its historic level of 200, itat. If a grebe responded to the recording, I re- but then plummeted to approximately 50 grebes mained in the area for l-2 hr, noting the numbers by 1983 (LaBastille 1984). of adults, juveniles, and chicks, and any behav- In 1986, I joined with the U.S. Fish and Wild- ioral interactions. Sexesof adults were relatively life Service, in cooperation with the Guatemalan easy to distinguish because of the male’s larger government and the International Council for body and more massive bill. Grebes were not Bird Preservation-Pan American Section, as part marked and were identified for censuspurposes of an international program to conserve P. gigas by their associationwith a particular territory. If on Lake Atitlan. The objectives of my research a territory was always occupied, I assumed con- tinuous ownership by the same birds. I searchedfor nests if, on two consecutive vis- 1Received 1 April 1988. Final acceptance28 June 1988. its, the grebesbehaved as if they had one in the 2Present address: National AudubonSociety, Scully area: nesting pairs responded to the recording by Sanctuary,S. Bay Ave., Islip, NY 11751. duetting from within the reeds,but only one bird [9061 STATUS OF ATITLAN GREBE 901 would leave the reeds and be visible to an ob- TABLE 1. Dimensionsof Podilymbus grebeeggs from server. In some cases, nesting birds were ob- Lake Atitlan and Lacuna de1Pino, and a mean for 102 North American PGd-billed Grebe eggs taken from served carrying nest vegetation into the reeds. Glover (1953). For Atitlan and Lagunade1 Pino, mean If a clutch of eggs was found in a nest, the measurementsfor each independent clutch were used length and width of all eggs were measured. I to calculateoverall means for the population. Means calculated an average egg length and width for (3) and standarddeviations (SD) are listed. each clutch to ensure independence before per- forming statistical analyses on the data. Nests Egg length Egg width (mm) (mm) with eggswere checked only once to minimize Site k3 Clutches 1 (SD) x (SD) disturbance. Nests with chicks were visited sev- Lake Atitlan 63 20 44.0 (2.0) 29.7 (0.8) eral times a week until all chicks were no longer Laguna de1 fed by their parents. Pin0 13 4 43.6 (1.6) 30.2 (0.7) Additional observations were made at Laguna N. America 102 - 43.5 (0.7) 30.8 (0.4) de1Pino, a lo-ha lake near Guatemala City that supports a year-round population of approxi- assumption that Atitlan Grebes were larger than mately lo-20 P. podiceps.These birds were ob- P. podiceps.Two-tailed tests were used for all served for 2-4 days at a time, for 40 days scat- pair-wise comparisons between P. gigas and the tered throughout the study period. Grebes were grebesat Lake Atitlan. censusedand eggswere measured using the same techniques as at Lake Atitlan, and behavioral RESULTS interactions were recorded. Data from the two From a distance, Podilymbusgrebes at Lake Ati- populations were compared. tlan and Laguna de1Pino appearedto be the same The territorial calls of male Podilymbusgrebes, size when compared to American Coots (Fzdica (referred to as the “gulping-cow” call by La- americana), which I used as a relative standard Bastille 1974) were recorded at Lake Atitlan and of reference. On five different occasions I saw Laguna de1 Pino throughout the study period, grebes flying on Lake Atitlan, with their feet at and at West Toqua Lake in southwestern Min- least 1 m off the surfaceof the water. According nesota, in July 1987. The calls were recorded to LaBastille (1974) P. podicepsoccurs on Lake using a Sony TCM-5000EV recorder, a 45-cm Atitlan during the winter months and leaves the parabolic reflector and a Sony ECM- 170 omni- lake by March. Given that all of my observations directional microphone. A Uniscan II real-time of grebes flying were after April, this indicates sound spectrographwas used to obtain two fre- that either P. gigas was capable of flight or that quency measurements(high and low) for the first P. podicepswas on the lake throughout the year. descending “cow” note of all complete calls. I observed 27 broods of chicks at Lake Atitlan Three male and three female grebesfrom Lake and found that the length of chick care was ap- Atitlan were captured using a hand-triggered nest proximately lo-12 weeks. I measured 63 eggs trap. The body of the trap consistedof a circular from 20 different clutches found at Lake Atitlan 2-cm mesh net which was tied securely on a nest between May 1986 and June 1987, and com- with eggs.When an incubating grebe returned to pared these with the measurements of 13 eggs the nest, I pulled the trigger string, the net as- from four different clutchesfound at Laguna de1 cended a metal tripod frame which was attached Pino between May 1986 and April 1987 (Made- to the nest, and enclosed the grebe. Captured lynn Gierach, pers.comm.). The length and width grebeswere weighed with a 1,000-g Pesola scale of eggsfrom Lake Atitlan were not significantly and the following measurements were taken us- different from those at Laguna de1Pino (t-test: t ing a dial caliper: bill length, entire exposedcul- = 0.4, P = 0.15 for length; t = 0.8, P = 0.1 for men from tip to beginning of feathers;bill depth, width; Table 1). The mean length and width for at posterior edge of nostril; and tarsus, distance 102 P. podicepseggs from North America (Table from joint between tibia and metatarsus to joint 1) are very similar to the measurements from at base of middle toe. The length of the flattened Laguna de1 Pino. wing was measured using a wing board. The acoustical structure of the male territorial For all pair-wise comparisons between P. pod- call was the same at all three sites where record- icepsand the grebesat Lake Atitlan, I used one- ings were made. The call began with a short series tailed testsof significanceto examine my a priori of rapid “ca” notes (5-10 notes) followed by a 908 LAURIE A. HUNTER 600 q The body massesof the three male and three Females q female grebes captured on Lake Atitlan were 500 within the range for body massesof P. podiceps but not for body massesof P. gigas (Fig. 1 and Table 3). The body massesof the captured birds 400 were significantly smaller than those of P. gigas (t = -9.2, P < 0.0001 for males; t = -5.3, P < 300 0.0001 for females). Interestingly, the mean body q massesof the captured males were significantly q I I I greaterthan the body massesfor male P. podiceps 200 P. podiceps P. gigas Atitlan 87 (t = 2.3, P = 0.01).