Birds collected and captured during the PROVEPA ornithological fieldwork in Paraguay 1993-1999 Per G.P. Ericson and Wilfrido Sosa Report from the Swedish Museum of Natural History. 2020:1. Naturhistoriska riksmuseets småskriftserie ISSN: 0585-3249 Per G.P. Ericson & Wilfrido Sosa Ornithological results of the PROVEPA project Cover photo: Momotus momota – Photo: PROVEPA, Swedish Museum of Natural History Publisher: Swedish Museum of Natural History Publishing city: Stockholm Publication date: 2020-05-11 Version: 1.2 ISSN: 0585-3249 © Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm Swedish Museum of Natural History Box 50007 SE-104 05 Stockholm Sweden www.nrm.se This report can be downloaded as a pdf-document from the website of the Swedish Museum of Natural History. Please cite: Ericson, P.G.P. & Sosa, W. 2020. Birds collected and captured during the PROVEPA ornithological fieldwork in Paraguay 1993-1999. Reports from the Swedish Museum of Natural History. 2020:1. Naturhistoriska riksmuseets småskriftserie. 2 Naturhistoriska riksmuseets småskriftserie 2020:1 ISSN: 0585-3249 Per G.P. Ericson & Wilfrido Sosa Ornithological results of the PROVEPA project Birds collected and captured during the PROVEPA ornithological fieldwork in Paraguay 1993-1999 Per G. P. Ericson 1, Wilfrido Sosa 2 1. Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 50007, SE- 10405 Stockholm, Sweden. 2. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural del Paraguay, Dirección General de Protección y Conservación de la Biodiversidad, Sucursal 19, San Lorenzo, Paraguay. Abstract. Between 1993 and 1999 the Swedish Museum of Natural History and the Dirección de Parques Nacionales y Vida Silvestre in Paraguay collaborated in a biodiversity training program (PROVEPA, Proyecto Vertebrados del Paraguay) focusing on vertebrate systematics and taxonomy, biological diversity estimation, and natural history museum practices. The program was partly funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and included the ornithological fieldwork that is reported here. The purpose of the fieldwork was to expose participating Paraguayan trainees to various aspects of ornithological fieldwork (estimating size and diversity of local bird faunas by means of standardized inventory methods, sound recordings, bird ringing, collecting and preparation of voucher specimens, etc.). Another aim was to gather data on the geographic distribution of Paraguayan bird species. We here present an annotated list of birds collected or captured and released during the PROVEPA ornithological fieldwork. Introduction This is an annotated list of birds collected or captured and released during the PROVEPA (Proyecto Vertebrados del Paraguay) fieldwork in Paraguay during the period 1993 to 1999. The ornithological fieldwork was part of a biodiversity training program focusing on vertebrate systematics and taxonomy, biological diversity estimation, and natural history museum practices. The training program was outlined in cooperation between the Dirección de Parques Nacionales y Vida Silvestre in Paraguay and the Swedish Museum of Natural History. The program was partly funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). The purpose of the fieldwork reported on here was twofold. The first was to expose the participating Paraguayan trainees to various aspects of ornithological fieldwork aiming at estimating the number and diversity of the local bird fauna by means of standardized inventory methods, sound recordings, bird ringing, collecting and preparation of voucher specimens, etc. The second goal was to gather data on the geographic and temporal distribution of Paraguayan bird species. In this report, detailed data on the birds obtained are presented in order to augment the knowledge of the distribution and taxonomy of the Paraguayan avifauna. Each species’ account includes a remark about its occurrence in the biogeographical region(s) from where the PROVEPA specimens were collected. That information is based mainly on del Castillo and Clay (2004). 3 Naturhistoriska riksmuseets småskriftserie 2020:1 ISSN: 0585-3249 Per G.P. Ericson & Wilfrido Sosa Ornithological results of the PROVEPA project Methods Collecting techniques and specimen preparation. In the course of the fieldwork bird specimens were collected to complement the existing ornithological collections of Museo Nacional de Historia Natural (MNHNP) in San Lorenzo and the Swedish Museum of Natural History (NRM) in Stockholm. Most specimens of larger species, generally non-passerines, were shot while smaller species mostly were mistnetted. Mistnets are particularly useful to obtain the many secretive, skulking understorey and forest species. The presence of several species, of which no sighting or aural records were made, were documented only after they had been caught in the nets. Especially canopy-living birds and some larger species were collected with shotgun or rifle. Data on the collected specimens are given below, together with data on those birds that were released after having been studied. From some of the latter birds blood was extracted. Upon their release, the tip of one of the outer rectrices was cut in order to ascertain recognition if netted again in the immediate future. The birds obtained were prepared in the field as study skins, skeletons or alcohol specimen. The gizzard and blood or tissue samples were collected from most individuals. The former were preserved in formaldehyde and stored in alcohol, while the blood and tissue samples were mostly put in 90% alcohol and later stored frozen. The skins, skeletons and alcohol specimens were divided between the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural del Paraguay and the Swedish Museum of Natural History. All gizzards and blood/tissue samples are stored at the museum in Stockholm. Museum accession numbers are given for all specimens. Bird ringing. Birds were ringed at Estancia Santa Ana, Departamento Misiones, between 7 and 17 April 1998 and between 5 and 15 November 1998. We used rings from the Bird Ringing Centre at the Swedish Museum of Natural History labeled “RIKSMUSEUM STOCKHOLM”. A total of 255 individuals of 59 species were ringed (Appendices 1 and 2). The birds were measured and the fat deposition and moulting status noted (for methods see below). Measurements. The total length was measured from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail when the bird is laying on its back in as a natural position as possible. Because this measurement maybe difficult to take and has a rather low repeatability, the figures given must thus be considered as approximates. Wing length was measured with the maximum length method, i.e. with the wing flattened against the ruler and the primaries straightened sideways (cf. Svensson 1992). The wing span was measured between the tips of the wings when the bird lays at its back with the wings spread in an as natural position as possible. Tail length was measured from the root of the central pair of rectrices. The length of the bill was measured as the distance from the tip to the base of the foremost feathers of the forehead. Bill depth was measured where the calipers rest comfortably or, on wedge-shaped bills, at the feathering with the calipers oriented at 90 degrees against the cutting edge of the bill. For passerines, the tarsus was measured from the intertarsal joint to the last complete leg scale before the toes diverge. In other taxa this measurement was taken with the toes bent to about 90 degrees. Weights are given in grams (g) and all linear measurements are given in millimeters (mm). The precision of the measurements are 0.1 for values up to 10, 0.5 for those ranging from 10 to 30, and 1.0 for larger values. 4 Naturhistoriska riksmuseets småskriftserie 2020:1 ISSN: 0585-3249 Per G.P. Ericson & Wilfrido Sosa Ornithological results of the PROVEPA project Colors. When possible, the colors of the bill, tarsus, iris, and various unfeathered parts, were scored in daylight on the living bird, or immediately upon its death. The color descriptions of Smithe (1974, 1981) were used. When two or more hues in the color guide bear the same name, the code number is given within parentheses after the English name of the color. Otherwise, only the English name is given. Color descriptions that do not refer to Smithe´s color guide are given within brackets. Subcutaneous fat status, feather moult and feather wear. The documentation of the subcutaneous fat status is useful in order to determine if the bird is accumulating more energy than is needed for surving the nearest 24h. This is normally done as a pre-migration preparation or at stop-overs during migration. The amount of subcutaneous fat is traditionally observed in the interclavicular region and the abdomen. We scored the fat classes 0 (leanest) to 6 (fattest) using a reference card (Pettersson and Hasselquist 1985). Feather moult status was noted for wing, tail and body using the classes None, Light, Moderate and Heavy, while feather wear for primaries (wing) and rectrices (tail) were scored using four classes: Fresh – the feathers are new and almost unused. Slightly worn – the feathers might still look fresh but the outermost parts are worn showing they have been in use for a time. Moderately worn – the feathers have been in use for a long time. This wear class covers the longest period of a feather’s “life”, almost until it is about to be moulted. Very worn – the feathers are extremely worn and overdue to be moulted. DNA analyses. We obtained DNA barcode sequences (708 basepairs of the mitochondrial CO1 region) for species that could be potentially difficult to identify. We compared the sequences with CO1 sequences for the relevant taxa deposited in BOLD (Barcoding of Life Data Base) and GenBank. The new sequences were deposited in GenBank (accession numbers MT003561- MT003663 and MT010398-MT010416) (Appendix 3). Taxonomy. The taxonomy and the listing order of the species follows the fourth edition of the Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World (Dickinson and Remsen 2013, Dickinson and Christidis 2014).