Birds on the Rock Glaciers (Jujuy, Argentina)

In the province of Jujuy the glacial environment was present during the Pliocene, Pleistocene, and early Holocene. Today, the periglacial environment only remains, with the presence of rock glaciers that are formed by frozen debris/rubble saturated with ice, situated above the 4.000 meters above sea level, and whose origins are related to the permafrost cryogenic processes and the subterranean ice. Information regarding the bird fauna that inhabits these places is virtually unknown. The aim of this study is to show the results of six expeditions that took place between 2010 and 2014 to the mountaing ranges of Santa Victoria, Zenta, Chañi, and Tilcara, where rock glaciers were found. I recorded 120 bird species (73 non passerines; 47 passerines) from which 15 are currently regarded as threatened for Argentina. The presence of country’s endemic birds species such as Metriopelia morenoi, Compsospiza baeri, and species with globally restricted range as Cinclus schulzi, Pseudosaltator rufiventris, Leptasthenura yanacensis, Asthenes heterura, A. maculicauda and Lophospingus griseocristatus gives a great interest for conservation in these periglacial habitats as well as for the biogeography of Andean birds.