The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 124(2):230-244, 2012 
A NATION-WIDE STANDARDIZED BIRD SURVEY SCHEME 
FOR VENEZUELA 
GUSTAVO A. RODRIGUEZ. 1 JON PAUL RODRIGUEZ, 1 - 3 
JOSE RAFAEL FERRER-PARIS,'- 2 AND ADA SANCHEZ-MERCADO' 2 
ABSTRACT.—We developed a field survey protocol based on the North American Breeding Bird Survey to evaluate the 
efficiency and reliability of a bird monitoring scheme in the Neotropics, known as NeoMaps. A team of 21 amateur and 
professional ornithologists conducted bird counts at 27 locations distributed throughout Venezuela between March and 
Apnl 2010. Locations selected followed a stratified spatial sampling design derived from environmental aid 
biogeographical variables. Two complementary survey protocols were implemented in consecutive davs along 404m- 
long roads.de transects. Three-minute point counts were performed at 50 stops. 800 m from each other on dav 1. 
Cumulative Spec.es lists were recorded a. a selection of 10 stops sampled for 9 min each, divided into three consceuuw V 
P T'^ "" ‘ Jay ,, 2 We rccorded W species at the 27 sites combined, representing 57% of the 1.033 potential species, ur 
43 /e ot all known \ ene/uelnn species. An additional 83 species were recorded outside of the formal point counts, for a total 
° .. . spi -‘ clcs d ^ ( -' ted , Groups such as hummingbirds and most waterbirds had unusually low numbers of both species and 
: pr< “ y du " to an abnormally dry year. Our survey me.hods appear to be appropriate for surveying most 
k owT nO ;r C0, ° n,al r CleS - Th,S iS thC r,rst »“*•■«*. *y«ematic bird S u.cv in Venezuela ' 
knowledge, in any other Iropical country. Received Id March 2011. Accented 20 November 20/1 
or. lo our 
Adequately quantifying bird species richness 
and abundance is one of the basic prerequisites of 
any sound wild bird conservation and manage¬ 
ment program (e.g., Robbins et al. 1986. Ralph et 
al. 1993, Herzog et al. 2002, Vorisek et al. 2010). 
Long-term monitoring programs, such as the 
Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) of North America 
and the United Kingdom, and the Pan-Europcan 
Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (Vorisek 
et al. 2010), rely on a variety of bird surveying 
techniques that have been extensively tested and 
validated, to monitor bird populations in temper¬ 
ate countries (Ralph and Scott 1981, Ralph et al 
1993, Wunderle 1994, Ralph et al. 1995, Buckland 
2006, Dawson and Efford 2009. Vorisek et al. 
2010). Relatively little has been done to develop 
adequate and cost-effective bird survey techniques 
in tropical countries, particularly in the Neotropics, 
where the highest species richness is concentrated 
(Orme et al. 2005). The global Wild Bird Index for 
example, has been estimated only from mean 
population trends of European and North American 
birds, while the data used for the more general 
iving Planet Index are overwhelmingly from 
cion^ n r° d !, EC0l ° ei ' a ' Ins,itul ° Venez °lano de Invest, 
Venezuela" US ' 2 ° 632 ’ Caracas 1( »^ 
Venetian f/?* 05 . BoIdni <™ y Agro fores tales. Instil 
ca,,c *- 
developed regions (Butchart et al. 2010. Pereira 
et al. 2010). 
At least four major challenges need to be 
overcome lo develop baseline data sets to monitor 
change of neotropical bird populations. (1) Survey 
techniques developed and applied in temperate 
regions (e.g., BBS) need to be widely tested 
against the higher levels of species and ecosystem 
diversity at tropical latitudes (Myers et al. 2000. 
Orme ct al. 2005). (2) Neotropical birds exhibits 
variety ol behavioral patterns, such as leking. 
permanent occupation of territories, decreased 
levels ol singing, overlap or home ranges, and 
nomadic or highly mobile behavior in search for 
mobile (e.g.. army ants) or spatially patchy (e.g.. 
fruits) food resources. These patterns depart from 
the typical breeding behavior of temperate 
species, lor which most survey techniques have 
been developed, and many of its assumptions (i.e - 
synchronized breeding and song produced by 
males only) may not be met in tropical habitats 
( Karr 1971, 1981; Poulsen et al. 1997; Herzog et 
al. 2002). (3) Developing countries frequently 
have severe financial constrains, making it 
difficult to plan and conduct efficient research, 
surveying, and monitoring programs (Margules 
and Redhead 1995). (4) Neotropical nations have 
a marked deficit of trained personnel for biodi¬ 
versity research and monitoring (Rodrieuez et al. 
2005). 
There have been several important efforts to 
develop standardized techniques for surveying 
tropical birds adapted to different bird groups and 
230 
