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Geographic Distribution and Abundance of the Puerto Rican Night Jar Franciscoj J. Field Ornithol., 64(2):223-238 GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE OF THE PUERTO RICAN NIGHT JAR FRANCISCOJ. VILELLA1 AND PHILIP J. ZWANK2 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service LouisianaCooperative Fish and Wildlife ResearchUnit Schoolof Forestry,Wildlife and Fisheries LouisianaState University Baton Rouge,Louisiana 70803 USA Abstract.--Six areas of Puerto Rico with high potential for occurrenceof the Puerto Rican Nightjar (Caprimulgusnoctitherus) were surveyedto determine presentgeographic distri- bution and abundance. Nightjar abundance and distribution were studied in Puerto Rico in 1985-1987, 1989-1990, and 1992. No relict nightjar populationswere found in three areas in the northern moist limestoneforest region of the island. Nightjars were found in three main areas locatedin the coastaldry limestoneforest and lower cordillera forest of southwesternPuerto Rico. Singingrates of male nightjarswere higher during winter (Jan- uary-March) than during summer (June-August) surveys.A total of 712 singing male nightjars were recordedin 9839 ha. These were distributed among three separateareas: Susfia-Maricao(177), Gufinica (347), and Guayanilla (188). Densitieswere 0.00-0.33 nightjar/ha on Sus6a-Maricao,0.00-0.19 nightjars/haon Gufinica,and 0.04-0.13 night- jars/ha on Guayanilla. First site recordsof nightjarsfor the Parguera Hills and Sierra Bermeja,a regionof coastaldry forestlocated in the southwesternend of PuertoRico, were obtainedin 1990 and 1991, respectively.Included in this total were 315 nightjarson 4583 ha of privateforest land that is rapidly beingcleared for urban, resortand industrial development. DISTRIBUCI(•NGEOGRJ•FICA Y ABUNDANCIADEL GUABAIROPEQUEl•10 DE PUERTO RICO (CAPRIMULGUS NOCTITHERUS) Sinopsis.--Sccscogicron scis ircas conalto potcncialpara la prcscnciadcl Guabairo Pcqucfio dc Puerto Rico (Caprimulgusnoctitherus), para dctcrminar la distribuci6ngcogrifica y abundanciaactual dc la cspccic.E1 cstudiosc 11cv6a cabo durante los a•os 1985-1987, 1989-1990 y 1992. No sccncontraron poblacioncs rcliquias cn tresircas dc la rcgi6ncaliza h6mcda dcl nortc dc Puerto Rico. AI prcscntc,la cspccicsc cncucntraparticularmcntc limitada atrcs ircas dc bosquccalizo secoy bosqucdc cordilleradcl surocstcdc la Isla. Los guabairosmachos, cantan mils frccucntcmcntcdurante los pcrlodosdc invicrno (cncro- marzo) quc durante cl vcrano (•unio-agosto).Sc dctcctaronun total dc 712 guabairosa 1o largo dc 9839 hcctircasincluldas cn los ccnsos.Estc total sc distribuy6entre las ircas dc Sus6a-Maricao(177), Guinica (347) y Guayanilla(188). La dcnsidad(guabairo/hcctlrca) fuc de: 0.00-0.33 en Sus6a-Maricao,0.00-0.19 cn Guinica y 0.04-0.13 cn Guayanilla. Sc detect6pot primera vcz la prcscnciadc la cspcciccn las colinasdc La Pargucra(Lajas) y cn Sierra Bcrmcja (Cabo Rojo), rcgioncsdc bosqucseco localizadas cn cl cxtrcmosurocstc dc Puerto Rico. Sc incluycroncn cstctotal 315 guabairosquc ocurrcn cn 4583 hcctircas dcbosquc cn propicdadprivada, cl cualcstl sicndodcstruido acclcradamcntc pot cl dcsarrollo urbano, turlstico c industrial. The Puerto Rican Nightjar (Caprimulgusnoctitherus), hereafter termed nightjar, was first describedin 1916 from a collectionof fossilbones from • Current address:U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,Puerto Rican Parrot Field Office,P.O. Box d88, Palmer, Puerto Rico 00721 USA. 2 Currentaddress: New Mexico CooperativeFish and WildlifeResearch Unit, New Mexico State University,P.O. Box 30003, Las Cruces,New Mexico 88003 USA. 223 224] F. J. Vilellaand P. J. Zwank j. FieldOrnithol. Spring 1993 4b 20 Km FIGURE1. Map of PuertoRico with dateand locationsof historicalPuerto Rican Nightjar records,known distributionof the Puerto Rican Nightjars by ! 985 (crosshatched), and regionsin which Puerto Rican Nightjars were surveyedin this study (! = Ciales, 2 = Rio Abajo, 3 = Guajatac'a,4a = Maricao, 4b = Susfia,5 = Gu/tnica, 6 = Guayanilla- Pefiuelas. cavesin the moist limestone region of Morovis in north central Puerto Rico and a previouslymisidentified skin collectedat Bayam0nnear San Juan in 1888 (Wetmore 1919, 1922). Wetmore (1916) alsopublished a record of a bird seen in a small tract of forest near Rio Piedras in 1911 (Fig. 1). Subsequently,the specieswent unrecordedand was presumed extinct (Danforth 1936). In 1961 a male nightjar was collectedin the Gufinica Forest, a dry coastal limestone forest reserve 62 km to the southwestof the last recordedsighting 50 yr earlier (Reynard 1962). Following the rediscovery,opinions on the species'taxonomic status were varied. Some authors familiar with the West Indian avifauna con- tinued to considerit an insularrace of the Whip-poor-will (Caprirnulgus vociferus)(Biaggi 1974, Bond 1961). After sonogramsof the Puerto Rican and mainland forms of Whip-poor-will were compared,however, the Puerto Rican form was recognizedas a distinct species(American Or- nithologists'Union 1983, Wetmore in Reynard 1962). Bond(1962) estimatednightjar numbers to be 25 to 100 breedingpairs confinedto the Gu•nica Forest.The long periodof presumedextinction coupledwith smallestimated population size on an islandwhose avifauna was consideredthoroughly surveyedled to the speciesbeing listed as endangeredin 1968 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serviceand by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Re- sources(Vincent 1968). The first detailed study on the specieswas conductedfrom 1969 to 1971 by Kepler and Kepler (1973). They recordedcall countsalong fixed- width transectsin GufinicaForest. In addition,they searchedfor the bird Vol.64, No. 2 PuertoRican Nightjar Distribution [225 throughoutsouthwestern Puerto Rico and other partsof the island.They foundnightjars in the Susfa Forestand in the coastaldry limestoneforest of the GuayanillaHills (Kepler and Kepler 1973) (Fig. 1). On the basis of their surveydata, a total of 450-500 breedingpairs were thoughtto be distributedover 3200 ha in three separateareas. Kepler and Kepler (1973) believedthat althoughthis specieswas historicallywidely distrib- uted in the moist and dry limestoneand coastalforests of Puerto Rico, distribution was now limited to these three localities. Following the Kepler's surveys,yearly nightjar countsalong a few selectedroutes were conductedin the Gufinica Forestduring 1976-1984 (Wiley 1985) and during June and July 1984 and January 1985 in Gufinica and Susfa Forests(Noble 1984, Noble et al. 1986). Nightjar densitiesvaried little from thoseobtained earlier by the Keplers' along the same routes. The objectivesof our study were to determinecurrent distributionand abundanceof this species. STUDY AREAS To identify areas in Puerto Rico where nightjarsmay exist, we first delineatedthe island'sforested areas from aerial photographsand recent U.S. GeologicalSurvey (USGS) topographicmaps. Secondly,we con- ductedground and aerial surveysin thoseforested areas. Six areaswere selected(Fig. 1). The three (1, 2, 3) in the northern moist limestone region of the island were chosenbecause of their proximity to historical recordsof nightjars(Wetmore 1922) and presentexistence of large, con- tinuous tracts of mature moist limestone forest. The other three areas in southwestern Puerto Rico were chosen based on known concentrationsof nightjarsand presenceof seeminglysuitable habitat (Kepler and Kepler 1973, Noble 1984, Noble et al. 1986). Climate, topographyand vegetationcharacteristics of the studyareas are described in Cardona et al. (1986), Cintr6n and Beck (1977) and Silander (1986). METHODS Each selectedarea was visited to determine current vegetativestatus and access.The numberof routesin eacharea was dictatedby trespass permissionand availability of footpathsand cattle trails. Nightjars were surveyedalong routes establishedon existing trails. On at least three occasionsduring crepuscularhours we playedrecordings of singingnight- jars along all surveyroutes to determinepresence or absenceof nightjars (Marion et al. 1981). Playback recordingscan be used to determine presenceof forestcaprimulgids because this group showsstrong site te- nacity and inclinationof malesto singrepeatedly during dusk and early night hours(Baker and Peake 1966, Lack 1957). Every 200 m we played a recordingfor 2 min and then listened for a responsefor 3 min. A considerable number of routes we selected in southwestern Puerto Rico where nightjarsoccurred had never been surveyedby previousworkers. This was includedin our analysesto provide information on the presence 226] F. J. Vilellaand P. J. Zwank J.Field SpringOrnithol. 1993 of this endangeredspecies in areascurrently under public and/or private ownership. Whenever a responsewas obtainedon a preliminary search,the birds were surveyedalong the route to estimateabundance. From two to 14 observersin partiesof two took part in the surveyswhich were conducted at dawn (0545-0635 January-March; 0530-0610 June-August) and dusk (1825-1910 January-March; 1910-2000 June-August). We sur- veyedby walking slowlyalong a transectand countingall singingnightjars following proceduresestablished by Noble et al. (1986) in which all singingnightjars are assumedto be heard as far as 300 m on either side of the surveyroute. Surveyroutes greater than 1.5 km were surveyedby parties starting at each end. As surveyroutes were often lessthan 600 m apart, we attemptedto avoid duplicatecounts whenever possible by not surveyingsimultaneously from adjacentroutes. We alsocounted nightjars heard singingat the route endswhen possible.For everyroute end, area was increasedby 14.1 ha (Noble 1984). To obtain a minimum estimate of abundance(nightjar/ha),
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