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13 March 2017 Nesting evidence, density and vocalisations in a resident population of Savannah Sparrow Passerculussandwichensis wetmorei in Guatemala
Knut Eisermann, Claudia Avendaño, Esteban Matías
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Abstract

We report the discovery of a resident population of Savannah Sparrows Passerculus sandwichensis wetmorei in grassland on a high plateau of the Sierra Los Cuchumatanes in western Guatemala. We observed a nest containing a nestling, and 11 fledglings of other breeding pairs in July 2016, which represent the first confirmation of the species nesting south-east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, c.700 km from the nearest known breeding locality in central Mexico. We provide the first description of juvenile plumage for this subspecies. Furthermore, we describe the song of P. sandwichensis wetmorei for the first time, which is similar in structure and signal characteristics to that of northern populations. Based on transects, we estimate a population density of 0.7–4.3 adults / ha in the study area, in the Parque Regional Municipal Todos Santos Cuchumatán, which is similar to published data from the USA and Canada. This is the first documentation of P. sandwichensis wetmorei since the type specimens were collected more than 100 years ago.

© 2017 The Authors; Journal compilation © 2017 British Ornithologists' Club
Knut Eisermann, Claudia Avendaño, and Esteban Matías "Nesting evidence, density and vocalisations in a resident population of Savannah Sparrow Passerculussandwichensis wetmorei in Guatemala," Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 137(1), 37-45, (13 March 2017). https://doi.org/10.25226/bboc.v137i1.2017.a4
Received: 7 September 2016; Published: 13 March 2017
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