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ACI Avances en Ciencias e Ingenierías

SECTION B: LIFE SCIENCES

Vol. 7 No. 2 (2015)

Alterations of coloration in the plumage of wild birds of Ecuador

DOI
https://doi.org/10.18272/aci.v7i2.259
Submitted
January 22, 2016
Published
2015-12-30

Abstract

This paper analyze 61 cases of plumage chromatic aberrations (total or partial absence of pigments in some or all feathers) in 43 species of wild birds, grouped into 21 families, including 51 new records and being the first report for these aberrations in Ecuador for 14 families. Records were compiled from our own data, skilled birdwatchers’s personal communications and visits to ornithological collections in Quito, Ecuador. The most common aberration was leucism and the species with the highest number of reports were the Greater Thrush Turdus fuscater and the Rufous-collared Sparrow Zonotrichia capensis. Most records came from rural areas in the high Andean region where Pichincha was the province with more records. The documentation of the distribution and frequency of these aberrations has important implications for conservation and monitoring as to evidence the possible causes that induce these alterations within bird populations; to this end, we also present the definition of the most important types of chromatic aberrations in order to familiarize birdwatchers with and to promote their report.

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