Avifauna of the Sipaliwini Savanna (Suriname) with Insights into Its Biogeographic Affinities

Ornithological surveys of the Sipaliwini savanna, an Amazonian savanna enclave along the Suriname-Brazil border, were conducted in July 2006 and June 2007. Of the 148 species recorded, five are new for Suriname: Micropygia schomburgkii, Myiopagis viridicata, Sublegatus modestus, Neopelma pallescens and Neothraupis fasciata. Patterns of species-sharing are compared among the Sipaliwini, other Amazonian savanna enclaves, and the large savanna complexes of the Llanos and Cerrado. In the Sipaliwini, forest birds are a subset of the Guiana Shield avifauna, while open-habitat species are shared predominantly with the Cerrado. Furthermore, the Sipaliwini populations of Falco sparverius and Athene cunicularia are identified as belonging to Cerrado subspecies instead of those occurring in nearby Guyana. The results support the hypothesis that the Sipaliwini and Amapa savannas were once connected to the Cerrado, likely by a coastal corridor.