The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 123 ( 2):289 315 , 2011 
AVIFAUNA OF THE GRAN PAJONAL AND 
SOUTHERN CERROS DEL SIRA, PERU 
MICHAEL G. HARVEY,'' 26 BENJAMIN M. WINGER, 1 ' 34 
GLENN F. SEEHOLZER,' 2 AND DANIEL CACERES A 5 
ABSTRACT.—Field surveys conducted between 4 September and 17 November 2008 resulted in the first 
comprehensive inventory of the avifauna of the outlying highlands of the Gran Pajonal and southern Cerros del Sira in 
centra] Peru. We report 462 bird species representing 52 families from above 900 m elevation. We describe the avian 
communities of humid montane habitats and savanna, and provide accounts for 22 species tor which we obtained either new 
ili'Lnbutional data or information of taxonomic significance. We also discuss avian migration, reproduction, molt, and 
conservation in the region. Our results highlight the richness and uniqueness of the avifauna of the Cerros del Sira and Gran 
Pajonal, and reinforce the scientific and conservation importance of the eastern Andes and its outlying ridges. Received 21 
April 2010. Accepted 14 December 2010. 
The complex topography, geology, and climate 
of the Peruvian Andes have produced isolated 
patches of habitat with unique avian communities 
and distinct taxa (Terborgh and Weskc 1975. 
Fitzpatrick 1977. O'Neill et al. 2000). many of 
which arc only beginning to undergo omitholog- 
'wl exploration (Sehulenberg and Awbrey 1997. 
Schulenberg et al. 2001). The Cerros del Sira 
'hereafter Sira) and Gran Pajonal in the depart¬ 
ments of Hutinuco, Pasco, Juntn, and Ucayali in 
central Peru comprise a highland area of 
■2,000 km 2 to the east of the high Andes. The 
Sira and Gran Pajonal are notable for the presence 
ot isolated patches of montane evergreen forest, 
defined as forest in areas where clouds regularly 
'ouch the mountains (Slot/, et al. 1996), and 
xavunna, or areas of grass and shrubs locally 
referred to as "pujnnales" (Chrostowski and 
Genevan 1970). Montane evergreen forest in the 
upper elevations of the Sira is isolated from 
'•niilar habitat in the main Andes by 100 km 
'Terborgh and Weske 1975). The savannas of the 
Gran Pajonal are isolated from the nearest large. 
L'omcll Luhoraiory of Ornithology. 159 Sapsuckcr 
Wood « Road, Ithaca. NY 14850. USA. 
farrent address: Museum of Natural Science. 119 
'‘"■ter Hall, Louisiana State University. Baton Rouge. LA 
70803, USA. 
Current address: Committee on Evolutionary Biology, 
^ University of Chicago. 1025 East 57th Street. Culver 
HaU 402. Chicago. 1L 60637. USA. 
‘Current address: Bird Division. The Field Museum of 
Plural History. 1400 South Lake Shore Drive. Chicago. IL 
^>5. USA. 
Must* de Historia Natural. Univcrsidad Nacional de 
Sun Agustfn. Avenida Daniel Aleides Carrion s/n. Arc- 
^'Pa. Peru. 
Corresponding author; e-mail: mharve9@lsu.edu 
contiguous block of savanna in Bolivia by 
>600 km. although small areas of savanna and 
seasonally dry forest occur in dry valleys of the 
eastern Andes of Peru and Bolivia (Scott 1977. 
Linares-Palomino 2006. Pennington et al. 2006). 
Previous ornithological work conducted in the 
Sira was concentrated at its northern edge (Weske 
and Terborgh 1971. Terborgh and Weske 1975. 
Weske and Terborgh 1977, Terborgh 1985, 
Graves and Weske 1987, Mee et al. 2002). The 
only available information on the birds of the 
southern Sira and Gran Pajonal is from a small 
collection made near the village of Tsioventeni by 
personnel from Andrew's University (Thoresen 
1974; T. S. Schulenberg, pers. comm.). The 
savannas of the Gran Pajonal have not received 
any ornithological attention, despite their status as 
a prominent example of a rare biotope in Peru. 
We present the results of the first intensive 
ornithological inventory of the Gran Pajonal and 
southern Cerros del Sira. We provide descriptions 
of the bird communities in the savanna and humid 
montane habitats, as well as details on the status 
of select species of interest. We also comment on 
boreal and austral migratory species, reproductive 
behavior, molt, and the biogeogruphic and con¬ 
servation implications of our results. A species list 
annotated with distribution, abundance, elevation, 
and habitat information and incorporating data 
from previous work in the region is presented in 
the Appendix. 
STUDY AREA AND METHODS 
Geography—The Cerros del Sira and Gran 
Pajonal form an upland region bordered to the 
west and north by the valley of the Paehitea River, 
to the east by the valley of the Ucayali River, and 
289 
