Pulido et al.: Charadriiformes on the Peruvian coast Conservation of Charadriiformes on the Peruvian coast Victor Pulido, Jaime Jahncke, Patricia Makamatsu & Cecilia Flores Pulldo, V., Jahncke,J., Makamatsu, P. & Flores, C. 1996. Conservation of Charadriiformes on the Peruvian coast. International Wader Studies 8: 55-61. On the Pacificcoast of Peru, the order Charadriiformesis representedby 75 species,of which 16 are residentand 59 migratefrom the Nearcticand Australregions and the GalapagosIslands. On the basisof studiesdone on shorebirdsbetween 1982 and 1991,suggestions are put forward for modifyingthe criteriafor the establishmentof Hemispheric,International and Regionalreserves within the WesternHemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network alongthe coastsof the southern Pacific.Also proposed is a strategyto be followedfor the conservationof migratorybirds on the coasts of Peru. En la costadel Pacificoen Peru,el ordende los Charadriiformesesta representado por 75 especies, de lascuales 16 sonresidentes y 59 migrande lasregiones neartica y australy de lasislas Galapagos.En basea estudioshechos sobre aves playeras entre 1982 y 1991,se plantean sugerenciaspara modificarlos criterios para el establecimientode reservashemisfericas, intemacionalesy regionales en el marcode la Redde Reservasde avesPlayeras del hemisferos Occidentala 1olargo de las costasdel oceanoPacifico sur. Tambiense propone una estrategiapara la conservacionde avesmigratorias en las costasde Peru. Sur la cStepacifique du P•rou, l'ordre desCharadriiformes compte 75 espc•ces,dont 16 y nichentet 59 y migrentdepuis les r•gions n•arctiques et australeset lesties Galapagos. Sur la foi d'•tudes d'oiseauxde rivageeffectu•es entre 1982 et 1991,on proposedes modifications aux crit•res d'•tabllssement,pour lescStes du PacifiqueSud, des r•serves h•misph•riques, intemationales et r•gionalesdu R•seaude r•servespour lesoiseaux de rivagede l'h•misph•reoccidental. On recommandeaussi l'adoption d'une strat•gie de conservationdes oiseaux migrateurs des c•tes du P•rou. InstitutoNacional de Investigaci6n Agraria y Agroindustrial,Eh'recci6n de Investigaci6n y Vida Silvestre [NationalInstitute for Agriculturaland Agroindustrial Research, Research and Wildlife Division], Apdo. Postal 11-0150 Lima 11, Peru. Introduction researchwas begun in Paracasand in the Villa beachesand ParaisoLagoon by E. Ortiz and G. Castro,respectively. These studies later extended Until 1980, few studies had been done in Peru on to work on the ecologyand conservationof areas the Charadriiformes that inhabit the Peruvian coast importantto shorebirds(Castro 1984; Castro & (e.g.Hughes 1968, 1970, 1976, 1979; Tovar & Myers 1987;Castro, Myers & Bertochi1988; Castro, Ashmole1970). Only part of studiesconducted by Ortiz & Bertochi 1990). the Peruvian OceanicInstitute (IMARPE) included Charadriiformes. In 1982, the Wildlife Directorate of the formerNational Wildlife Authority (INFOR), In 1985,under a letter of agreementbetween the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment Canada togetherwith the Pan AmericanShorebird Program, thePhiladelphia Academy of Scienceand other and the former INFOR, a collaborativeprogramme Peruviannon-governmental organizations, was setup to study the feedinghabits and ecology undertookthe first studieson bird migration. In of the Common Tern Sternahirundo (Pulido 1987). September1982, under the leadershipof J.P.Myers, In February1986, the first aerialcensus of shore- a census of shorebirds was undertaken, and birds was donealong the entirePeruvian coast SanderlingsCalidris alba were banded on the sandy betweenTumbes and Tacna. The resultingdata seashoreof the Mejia resortarea on the southern wereused by R.I.G.Morrison and R.K. Rossin the coastof Peru (Pulido 1983a, 1983b). Atlasof Nearctic shorebirds on the coast of South America(Morrison & Ross1989). In March of the followingyear, censusing and bandingof migratoryshorebirds continued in the In 1987, 1989 and 1991, the Wildlife Research Directorate of the Instituto Nacional de Mejia LagoonsNational Bird Sanctuaryand in the Paracas National Reserve. In 1983 and 1984, new Investigaci6nAgraria y Agroindustrial(INIAA), 55 International Wader Studies 8:55-61 with the supportof national and international 1989(474), February and March 1990(138 and 312 organizations,organized workshops on research birds,respectively) and March and April 1991(81 and conservation of wild birds, which included and 160,respectively). Overall, 1,560specimens bandingcampaigns in the ParacasNational were banded: 568 SemipalmatedSandpipers Reserve, Nearly 1,600specimens of variousspecies Calidrispusilla, 519 WesternSandpipers Calidris of shorebirdswere banded, Furtherbanding maur/,439 Sanderlings,19 Short-billedDowitchers campaignstook placein Paracasin 1990and 1991, Limnodromusgriseus, 14 SemipalmatedPlovers Charadriussemipalmatus and 1 Black-belliedPlover Field studiesundertaken along the Peruvianand Pluvialissquatarola (Table 3). the entire Pacific and Atlantic coasts have made it possibleto standardizethe bandingof migratory Boththe recaptureand recoveryrates were very shorebirdsusing metal bandsand colouredflags low. For recapturedbirds, the percentagedid not and bands(Myers et al. 1987a,1987b; Pulido 1989) exceed2% of total birdsbanded for that campaign. and to establish avenues for research(Castro 1985; For recoveries,the percentageon one occasionrose Castro& Sallaberry1986). exceptionallyhigh to 12%, pointing to a certain degreeof sitefidelity in migratorybirds wintering This study coverscertain aspects of shorebird in Paracas. migration along the Pacificcoast of Peru, including (1) the resultsof bandingdone over five yearsfrom Important areas for shorebird 1987 to 1991, (2) the identification of those areas conservation in Peru important to the conservationof shorebirdsin Peru and (3) suggestionsfor the establishmentof shorebirdreserves by the WesternHemisphere The Peruviancoast is an arid strip,3,080 km long Shorebird ReserveNetwork (WHSRN). and up to 200 km wide, whichextends along the maritimelittoral betweenBoca Capones in the north and Concordiain the south (Pefiaherrera1989). Its Shorebird migrations along the topographyis varied; it includes53 major rivers, Pacific coast of Peru vastexpanses of coastaldesert, cropland and hill formations. Throughoutis a seriesof wetlands Many migrantshorebirds that stopover on the important to the conservationof Charadriiformes. coastof Peru comefrom the Nearcticregion (Canadaand the United States),the Galapagos Of the mostimportant wetlands along the Peruvian Islands(Ecuador) and the Austral region (South coast,only threeare protected:the National Tumbes Pole and Chile) by horizontalmigration. Others MangroveSwamp Sanctuary (2,972 ha), the Paracas migratevertically when descendingfrom the Andes National Reserve(335,000 ha, of which 217,594ha to the Pacificcoast or the Amazonregion. are marine) and the Mejia LagoonsNational Bird Sanctuary(690.6 ha). Among the unprotected Of the 11 familiesthat makeup the order wetlandsare the Virrihi Estuary,the SanPedro Charadriiformes, 10 occur in Peru (Parker, Parker & mangroveswamps, the Lambayequecoasts and the Plenge1982; Hayman, Marchant& Prater 1986) ParaisoLagoon. Of all theseareas, only the Paracas (Table1). These10 familiescomprise 86 species,of National Reservehas been recognized by the which 75 (87%) inhabit Peru's coastseither WHSRN, designatedas a Regionalreserve in temporarily or permanently. Of the 75 coastal September1991. species,16 speciesare resident,whereas 59 are migratory speciesoriginating from the Nearctic Other wetlandsof nationalimportance on the region (48), the Austral region (6), the Galapagos Peruviancoast include the Ram6n Lagoon,the Islands (1) and the Peruvian Andes (4) (Table 2). mouth of the Chira River, the mouth of the Piura River, the mouth of the Eten River, the Medio Of the 10 familiesthat occurin Peru,Scolopacidae Mundo Lagoons,the Villa SwampsReserve, the is representedby 27 species(all of them Nearctic mouth of the Lurfn River, the PuertoViejo Lagoons, and migratory),followed by Laridaewith 22 species the mouth of the Chincha River, the mouth of the (7 residentand 15 migratory) and Charadriidae PiscoRiver, the Agua SantaLagoons, Punta with 11 species(4 residentand 7 migratory). The 7 Lomitas,Asma, the Tilimaco Lagoons,the Pucchfin remainingfamilies include between 1 and 5 species. Lagoons,the mouth of the CamantiRiver, the mouth of the Tambo River, Punta Coles, the mouth of the LocumbaRiver, the Ite Lagoonsand the Banding of shorebirdsfrom 1987to beachesof Tacna. All thesewetlands of recognized 1991 importanceto migratory birds are interconnectedin variousways by meansof avian migrationroutes. Six banding campaignswere carried out in the The distancesbetween them rangefrom a few kilometres to not more than 100 km. It is therefore ParacasNational Reservein 1987through to 1991. Shorebirds were banded in March 1987 (395), March importantto protectmost of theseaquatic 56 Pulido et al.: Charadriiformes on the Peruvian coast Table1. SpeciesofCharadriiformes and their status on the Peruvian coast. R = resident,A = Austral(migratory), S= southern,An = Andes(migratory), G = Galapagos(migratory) and N = Nearcftc. Family/Species Commonname Status Haematopodidae Haematopuspalliatus AmericanOystercatcher R Haematopusater BlackishOystercatcher R Charadriidae Vanellusresplendens AndeanLapwing An Pluvialissquatarola Black-belliedPlover N Pluvialis dominica Lesser Golden-Plover N Charadriussemipalmatus SemipalmatedPlover N Charadriusalexandrinus SnowyPlover R Charadriusalticola