Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1974 The irB ds of Balta, a Peruvian Dry Tropical Forest Locality, With an Analysis of Their Origins and Ecological Relationships. John Patton O'neill Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation O'neill, John Patton, "The irB ds of Balta, a Peruvian Dry Tropical Forest Locality, With an Analysis of Their Origins and Ecological Relationships." (1974). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 2626. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/2626 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 74-24,795 O'NEILL, John Patton, 1942- THE BIRDS OF BALTA, A PERUVIAN DRY TROPICAL FOREST LOCALITY, WITH AN ANALYSIS OF THEIR ORIGINS AND ECOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1S74 Zoology University Microfilms, A XEROX Company , Ann Arbor, Michigan THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE BIRDS OF EALTA, A PERUVIAN DRY TROPICAL B CREST LOCALITY, WITH AN ANALYSIS OF THEIR ORIGINS AND ECOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Zoology and Physiology by John Patton 0*Neill B, S., Oklahoma University, 196*1 M. S., Louisiana State University, 1970 May, 1972* Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS No long-term project can be successfully completed without the aid and cooperation of a great number of people. And therefore the success­ ful completion of my study of the birds of Salta leaves me deeply indebted in many ways and many directions. The never-ending enthusiasm and cooperation of the personnel of the Peruvian branch of the Instituto Linguistico de Verano and their Transportation and Communication branch, the Servicio Aereo Cultural y de Socorro, is greatly appreciated. Without the help of these two organizations I would not have been able to reach Balta except by the most arduous of efforts, and under the most trying of circumstances. I owe special thanks to the following for their cooperation: Gerald Elder, Eugene Loss, Rolland Rich, and James Wroughton, each of whom served as Director of the Instituto during the years of the study; Floyd Lyons, who arranged the necessary flights, often going out of his way to meet our schedules; Stuart Anthony, Elsie May Hartog, and Mary Mollhagen of the Lima office, who attended to many details and much paperwork to make the project run smoothly; Marlene Ballena of the purchasing office in Lima, who greatly helped in the procurement of supplies and the shipping of specimens out of Peru; Elizabeth Cudney of the Lima House residence, who was kind enough to allow the storage of supplies and specimens there and to help in many other ways; Robert and Gail Cromack and Richard and Susan Montag, linguists working with the Cashinahua Indians at Balta, who aided greatly in ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. many problems of language and logistics. The superb collection of specimens from Balta would not have been possible without the help of my many field companions. Each of the following persons visited Balta one or more times and greatly contri­ buted to the study: Alfred L. Gardner, Mary Ann Gardner, John Farrand, Jr., J. Alan Feduccia, James J. Hebrard, Kenneth M. Kensinger, John S. Mcllhenny, John J. Korony, James L. and Carol Patton, and J. P. Richard Thomas. I wish to especially thank Alfred L, Gardner and Kenneth M. Kensinger for their untiring help in many matters both in and out of the field. Kensinger introduced me to the Cashinahua Indians and constantly shared his knowledge of their culture and language. Naturally I owe special gratitude to the Cashinahuas, who made living at Balta a pleasure and who constantly "took me by the hand" to show me the clearings, forests, and waterways they know so well. During the entire project John S. Mcllhenny of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, showed unfailing interest and generously provided, through the Louisiana State University Museum of Zoology, the major financial support for the study. Financial aid from Eugene du Pont H I and the Bradley Fisk fund is also appreciated. In 1969 I was awarded a grant from the Frank M. Chapman Manorial Fund of the American Museum of Natural History that allowed me to visit that institution for the purpose of subspecifically identifying many of my Balta specimens. The personnel of the Kuseo de Historia Natural "Javier Prado" in t.Iim were always helpful and enthusiastic. Ramon Ferreyra, Hans- Wilhelm Koepcke, the late Maria Koepcke, and Hernando de Macedo aided iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. in Aspects too numerous to mention, I shall always feel especially in­ debted to Maria Koepcke, who showed constant interest and enthusiasm in the project and who was never too busy to lend a helping hand or answer a question, Jurgen Haffer was kind enough to spend time sharing his knowledge of Pleistocene events in Amazonia and John Terborgh gave freely of his knowledge of the ecology of the tropics. Arturo and Helen Koenig and Manuel and Isabel Plenge of Lima generously opened their homes to me and to many of the members of the various expeditions. I want to thank Manuel Plenge for the many hours of stimulating conversation about his country and its exciting avifauna and for the many times that he helped in the procurement of supplies and information. The identification of specimens required the use of material in several museums. Appreciation is expressed to the following for the use of the collections in their care and for discussions of taxonomic problems pertaining to various groups of birds: Dean Aaadon, Eugene Eisenmann, and Lester L. Short of the American Museum of Natural History; Emmet R, Blake and Melvin A. Traylor of the Field Museum of Natural History; James Bond and Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia; George H, Lowery, Jr., and Robert J . Newman of the Louisiana State University Museum of Zoology; Richard C. Banks, John S. Weske, Alexander Wetmore, and Richard L. Zusi of the National Museum of Natural History. George H. Lowery, Jr., served as my major professor during the project, and both he and Robert J. Newman critically read the iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. manuscript. Both offered their support and advice throughout the study. Harry J, Bennett, Walter J. Harman, J. Harvey Roberts, and Douglas A. Rossman served on my graduate committee. Mrs, Peter J. Fogg and Gary D. Lester typed several portions of the earlier drafts of the manuscript and the former typed