Thanks to the generosity of TCBC club members who contribute to pay their dues and the creative thinking of Marvin Barg a financial contribution of $300 has been made to support neotropical migratory birds at a field station in central El Salvador.  These funds are matched by the US Fish & Wildlife Service as per the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act.  The pictures herein show 'our' station at Parque Nacional Montecristo II located at about 1800 meters in tropical/subtropical dryleaf forest.  The station was initiated during winter 2004-2005.  The MoSI (Monitoreo de Sobrevivencia Invernal in Spanish, and in English, Monitoring Overwintering Survival) program we can see has a good deal to do with tracking the survival of some of 'our' local favorites.

Below are images of the operation of that station and a bird captured there recently, and a summary table of the Neotropical migrants captured there through the 2005-06 MoSI season. The Veery was a surprise capture (dduring the 2006-2007 season) and represented the first record of this species in El Salvador!  Montecristo II is one of the most important stations for Swainson’s Thrushes and Wilson’s Warblers, critical target species for both the MoSI and MAPS programs. A table showing total captures for the last three years is followed by a salon of images from various MoSI stations. 

 

SalvaNATURA

Cloud forest at the Montcristo II MoSI banding station.

SalvaNATURA

Veery at the Montecristo II MoSI station.

 

The number of total captures (including recaptures) of each species recorded for banding at the Montecristo I MoSI station during the three seasons 2003-2004, 2004-2005, and 2005-2006. Data supplied by SalvaNATURA and processed by The Institute for Bird Populations.

 

SPECIES 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006

------------------------------ --------- --------- ---------

White-tipped Dove 0 1 0

White-faced Quail-Dove 0 1 2

Violet Sabrewing 0 1 5

Green Violet-ear 0 3 0

White-eared Hummingbird 0 22 9

Azure-crowned Hummingbird 0 2 0

Azure-crowned Hummingbird 0 0 1

Azure-crowned Hummingbird 0 4 0

Green-throated Mountain-gem 0 34 39

Amethyst-throated Hummingbird 0 15 6

Wine-throated Hummingbird 0 0 1

Collared Trogon 0 4 1

Blue-throated Motmot 0 4 2

Emerald Toucanet 0 9 3

Hairy Woodpecker 0 1 0

Ivory-billed Woodcreeper 0 6 6

Spot-crowned Woodcreeper 0 5 1

Ochre-bellied Flycatcher 0 1 4

Hammond's Flycatcher 0 8 1

Yellowish Flycatcher 0 4 3

Gray-collared Becard 0 1 0

Blue-headed Vireo 0 4 4

Rufous-browed Peppershrike 0 0 2

Bushy-crested Jay 0 0 1

Brown-backed Solitaire 0 17 9

Slate-colored Solitaire 0 4 1

Orange-billed Nightingale Thru 0 5 0

Spotted Nightingale-Thrush 0 1 1

Swainson's Thrush 0 27 9

Black Robin 0 1 1

Clay-colored Robin 0 0 1

Tennessee Warbler 0 4 6

Crescent-chested Warbler 0 7 0

Black-throated Green Warbler 0 4 4

Townsend's Warbler 0 8 4

Black-and-white Warbler 0 9 4

Worm-eating Warbler 0 6 2

Ovenbird 0 9 2

Wilson's Warbler 0 17 8

Slate-throated Redstart 0 18 10

Rufous-capped Warbler 0 1 0

Common Bush-Tanager 0 5 0

Flame-colored Tanager 0 2 4

Bar-winged Oriole 0 1 0

Yellow-backed Oriole 0 0 1

------------------------------ --------- --------- ---------

Total 0 276 158

Green Kingfisher and Painted Bunting at MoSI station Playa Grande, Costa Rica. Images: John Woodcock.

Processing birds at MoSI station Bosawas, Nicaragua, and Black-throated Trogon at MoSI station Finca El Suspiro del Valle, Panama. Images from: Salvadora Morales and ACHIOTE.

Coffee Finca and Masked Tityra at MoSI station Finca Nuevas Horizontes, El Salvador. Images: Vicky Garan

Long-tailed Manakin and Processing station, MoSI station Parque Nacional El Imposible, El Salvador. Images: Peter Pyle.

Paraque and camping/bird-banding station. MoSI station Estero Naranjo, Costa Rica. Images: John Woodcock.

The next generation of bird banders at MoSI stations in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Images: MoSI Station Operators, The Institute for Bird Populations.
 Further information about this worthwhile program is located at the Cornell Lab.