Guatemala Bird Diversity Project

The Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology (WFVZ) has been conducting inventories of eggs, nests, and birds in the tropics since the 1960s in places such as Malaysia, Madagascar, Samoa, Ecuador, Chile, Mexico, and Costa Rica.

Historically, Guatemala was poorly represented in our collections. In 2001, our Collections Manager René Corado, a native Guatemalan, initiated a long-term research program to document Guatemalan birds, nests, and eggs. We are conducting this project with the cooperation of the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC) and CONAP (Consejo de Areas Protegidas).

Guatemala is a small Central American country of only 48 thousand square miles (more or less the size of New York State), but it has a privileged geographical location on the continent, which allows it to have a large diversity of regions, and consequently, to possess a rich avifauna. The countryside ranges from sea level to nearly 14,000 feet at Volcano Tajumulco. This country has temperatures from more than 100 degrees Farenheit in the Motagua River Valley to only 16 degrees in the higher mountains.

René Corado and Dr. Linnea Hall conduct fieldwork in Guatemala every May/June, and December/January. The purposes of the WFVZ's research in Guatemala are: (1) to further inventory the nests and eggs of Guatemalan bird species to document the distribution, timing, and duration of their breeding efforts; (2) to monitor birds by point count transects and banding stations along the Rio Motagua in central Guatemala; and (3) to teach study skin preparation and other museum techniques to students at 2 universities in Guatemala City.

If you are interested in supporting our Guatemalan field project, please contact us to ask how you can help!

View our 2005 & 2006 reports.