Because migratory birds travel across political and cultural boundaries, their study and conservation requires collaboration between countries and cultures. Such collaboration is now commonplace in the Northern Hemisphere, but it has lagged behind in South America due to obstacles in communication, lack of standardization, and lack of funds. To overcome these obstacles and catalyze international research on bird migration in South America, this award supports a workshop to form the Aves Internacionales Network (in Portuguese: "Rede Aves Internacionais"; in Spanish: "Red Aves Internacionales"). The workshop, which is co-organized by Miguel Marini of the Universidade de Brasilia (Brazil), Victor Cueto of the Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina), and Ana Maria Mamani of the Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado (Bolivia), will coincide with the 25th International Ornithological Congress (IOC) in Campos do Jordão, Brazil, in August 2010. Research topics generated by workshop participants will center around two interrelated goals: (1) developing hypotheses on bird migration in South America and collecting data to test those hypotheses, and (2) testing hypotheses on how bird migration differs in South and North America. In combination, these two goals will provide a new, geographically broader perspective about how and why New World birds migrate.

This workshop aims to develop a research agenda based on questions that cannot be answered by any single research group, but which require international collaboration across North and South America. Participants will be drawn from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and the United States, and will include active members of MIGRATE, a NSF-funded program to study migration in the Northern Hemisphere. Many of the workshop participants will be students or young professionals, personally committed to fostering long-term partnerships with international colleagues. The workshop will contribute to knowledge about socially relevant issues such as climate change, land-use patterns, and the avian spread of diseases, and will also generate a series of education-based activities in both North and South America.

Project Report

Every year, millions of migratory birds cross political borders, spending the summer in one country and the winter in another or several countries. As a result, their study and conservation requires international collaboration. Yet, such international cooperation is sorely lacking in many regions around the world, including South America, home to the world’s third-largest bird migration system, where >230 migratory species breed and migrate wholly within the continent. Preliminary data show that bird migration in South America is more complex (and often counter-intuitive) than migration in North America. For example, at least one basic and unquestioned assumption about migration in the Northern Hemisphere – that birds head towards the equator during the non-breeding season – has important exceptions in South America. In the Atlantic Forest of Brazil some species migrate away from the equator after breeding. Basic information on how and when birds migrate across South America is lacking or is pertinent only at a local scale. Until such information is gathered and analyzed at a large geographic scale, questions on the causes and consequences of migration cannot be addressed. Simply put, it is impossible to study the constraints that migrant birds face throughout the year when working only locally because they travel such vast distances (hundreds to thousands of kilometers). As is often the case in South America, strong research skills and commitments are present, but are held in check by the lack of coordinated work across countries. Additionally, the cultural divides among South American countries are far more diverse than in North America, which poses additional challenges for international collaboration. There are 13 countries in South America and six official languages (Dutch in Suriname, French in French Guiana, English in Guyana, Portuguese in Brazil, Guaraní and Spanish in Paraguay, and Spanish in all remaining countries). To overcome these obstacles and catalyze international research on bird migration in South America, we invited researchers and students from across the Americas to a workshop. At the workshop, we established the Aves Internacionales Network, a consolidated, question-driven research network to understand bird migration in South America. In particular, we targeted efforts in Brazil, because it is the largest country in South America, accounting for 43% of the continent’s landmass. We first held a symposium on 26 August 2010 in the town of Campos do Jordao, Brazil, simultaneously with the International Ornithological Congress. Five talks were presented on bird migration in North and South America. The workshop itself was held in the town of Sao Bento, Brazil (state of Sao Paulo) from 29-30 August, 2010. Forty-two people from nine countries attended, including 16 students and one postdoctoral researcher. The major outcomes of the workshop were, first, the establishment of the network's mission, which was defined as a network of researchers who study the migration of New World birds, facilitating collaboration, capacity building, information exchange, and access to resources that maximize research and conservation activities. Second, we agreed on research questions to study as a group, which are: (1) Which taxa or populations of birds migrate in South America?, (2) Why do they migrate?, (3) How do they migrate?, and (4) When and where do they migrate? In combination, these goals will provide a new, geographically broader perspective about bird migration in South America. Finally, we formed six working groups: (1) Standards and protocols, (2) Education, (3) Training, (4) Funding, (5) Communication, and (6) Conservation. Several of these working groups have already produced concrete results, such as a lesson plan on bird migration for schoolchildren, a database with a list of threatened migratory bird species, and a new website (www.avesinternacionales.org). We subsequently held follow-up meetings in Cuzco, Peru at the Neotropical Ornithological Congress in 2011, and in Canada at the North American Ornithological Congress in 2012, where updates on group activities were reported and future goals discussed. The Aves Internacionales Network is now an active, internationally-recognized initiative that gains new partners every year. Network members have recently submitted proposals to organizations in both North and South America and expect healthy funding levels for research for years to come. We are currently developing new hypotheses on the ecology and evolution of bird migration in South America, and testing hypotheses on how bird migration differs between South and North America.

Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2010-07-01
Budget End
2012-06-30
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$59,962
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Fayetteville
State
AR
Country
United States
Zip Code
72701