Avifauna of the San Pablo private reserve, Tucumán, Argentina

The San Pablo Reserve is a privately managed protected area, located in the southern foothills of the Sierra de San Javier, in the province of Tucumán, with an area of 750 ha, with an altitude range of 650 to 1,300 meters above sea level in the Yungas ecoregion. In order to contribute to the knowledge of its avifauna during the creation of the reserve, we performed bird sampling through fixed point counts, transect counts, mist netting and playback for nocturnal birds. We encountered highly variable dynamics in the avifauna, with species that migrate altitudinally, resident species, and others that nest in the reserve and then migrate to winter in latitudes of northern South America, as well as species migrating from North America. A total of 155 species were recorded, many of which are of conservation priority because they are endemics, with low population numbers and which suffer persecution from hunting or are long distance migrants. These include Trigrisoma fasciatum, Ramphastos toco, Amazona tucumana, Buteo leucorrhous, Buteo platypterus, Micrastur semitorcuatus, Oroaetus isidori, Megascops hoyi, Pheusticus aureoventris, Atlapetes citrinellus, Poospiza erythrophrys and Catharus dryas, among others. This initiative of creating a new reserve protects the environments of many birds representative of the Southern Yungas. The reserve is also a supplier of important environmental services, such as water catchment and provision, carbon capture and as a refuge for pollinators and predators of biological pests.