The birds of an Atlantic forest fragment at upper Rio Doce valley, Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil:: colonization and extinction

It is presented a bird survey of a forest fragment at the upper Rio Doce valley carried out from April 2002 to November 2004. The region is within one of the most important Brazilian hot spot for biological conservation: the Atlantic Forest. The fragment is within 'Estacao de Desenvolvimento Ambiental de Peti' (EPDA-Peti) under the premises of a hydroelectric power station run by the Minas Gerais Energetic Company. It holds 605 ha of a mosaic of secondary growth forest patches from different ages, characterised mainly by semi deciduous forest. Bird census were carried out through transect, mist-net captures, point counts and recording bird vocalizations. The present survey was compared to an unpublished survey performed in 1989 to find out possible extinctions and colonization. It was recorded 231 species, belonging to 57 families. This represents 33% of all 682 bird species recorded for the Atlantic forest blome of east Brazil. Thirty-three species are considered endemic to the Atlantic Forest and one is considered endemic to the Cerrado biome of central Brazil. Five species are threatened in the state of Minas Gerais and one species is globally threatened to extinction, the red-billed curassow Crax blumenbachii Spix, 1825 (Cracidae). It was found 35 species not reported before for the area. Also, 52 species went locally extinct from the fragment. The EPDA-Peti holds a significant number of the Atlantic Forest bird species, and long-term bird monitoring on such fragments will reveal important aspects for the understanding of colonization and extinction in the biome.