"Year-round fieldwork in relatively ignored regions, would be particularly helpful in sorting out migration patterns of many species."

-R.T. Chesser (1995)

Right: Creamy-bellied Thrush (Turdus amaurochalinus) is a common austral migrant in lowland South America.

In light of the pervasive and acute habitat alterations occurring on the South American continent, the migratory tactics employed by migrants could have far- reaching consequences for those species’ survival.   Such basic information as resource use and timing of austral migration remain relatively ignored ( Chesser 1994, Jahn et al. 2002b). For example, if austral migrants practice a strategy that takes them from breeding or wintering grounds via one long flight, resource use along the migratory pathway may be inconsequential.   Should migrants make stops along the way, however, habitat quality en route may be an important determinant of migratory success.  

Such information has been collected for decades in North America and has proven useful for understanding migratory bird requirements.   In particular, Breeding Bird Surveys (http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/bbs.html) and a federal banding program (run by the Geological Survey’s Patuxent Wildlife Research Center) have yielded valuable data on population trends, habitat use, and migratory routes.   Standardized equivalents do not exist in South America.  

By contrast, for austral migrants, is not only unclear if populations are declining, it is impossible with current data to even explore such a possibility.   North American ornithologists who are involved with large-scale surveys and banding programs can greatly benefit South American ornithologists by sharing their experiences.

To help make this dialogue a reality,  Kim Smith (University of Arkansas), Doug Levey and Alex Jahn (University of Florida), in conjunction with Rodrigo Vásquez and Pablo Sabat (Universidad de Chile), organized the first symosium workshop on austral migration. It was held concurrently with the VII Neotropical Ornithological Congress (NOC) at Termas de Puyehue, Chile, 5-11 October, 2003.

More generally, the symposium-workshop aimed to foster intellectual exchange and collaboration between ornithologists of all ages, sexes and nationalities.   As reviewed in the previous section, the potential is high for jumpstarting well-framed research projects on austral migration.   Furthermore, since most austral migrants traverse several countries every year, this symposium-workshop will hopefully result in an international, multi-agency consortium that focuses on and promotes research, conservation, and management of austral migrants.   A very successful model of exactly such a consortium already exists in North and Central America.   Partners in Flight (PIF) is comprised of disparate government agencies (e.g., Bureau of Land Management, Department of Defense, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service), academics, and nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) (e.g., American Bird Conservancy, National Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy).   It is international, emphasizing representation from organizations in Canada, United States, and several Central American countries.   PIF is organized into working groups (e.g., Research working Group, Communications Working Group), publishes a newsletter, has well-attended annual meetings, and circulates position papers (see http://www.partnersinflight.org/).

In this context, we note that a diverse array of avian ecology projects is already underway across South America.   These projects have untapped potential for providing basic data on austral migrants across a broad geographic range.   A strong collaborative effort could unite such projects and provide standardized methodologies for monitoring migrant populations.   In some cases, valuable information on austral migration has already been collected, albeit unintentionally.   Museum records are especially promising but relatively unexplored example.   What is lacking is a means of compiling such information for analysis and dissemination.    Just as the synthesis of data from museums yielded much information on seasonality and ranges of austral migrant species (e.g., Chesser 1995), collating information from already-existing field studies could elucidate important details of migration from across the continent.   Collecting, compiling and synthesizing such data would best be carried out under the auspices of a network of scientists, who could champion the need to collect specific data on migration in a highly standardized way.  

Broadening research to understudied regions is beneficial beyond the bounds of those particular regions.   Levey (1994) urged a broader perspective on migratory birds and outlined how it would benefit conservation, international cooperation, and development of evolutionary theories.

Finally, in addition to facilitating the exchanges described above, a symposium-workshop on austral migrants could help pave the way for substantial transfer of technology.   Stable isotopes, satellite telemetry, and weather radar have been recently and widely applied in studies on Nearctic-Neotropical migrants.   Their potential applicability in South America is enormous and virtually untapped.   Researches already using such technologies in North America would be well positioned to provide guidance, enthusiasm, and a broad vision to their counterparts in South America.

Goals of the Symposium-Workshop

Previous symposia on migration have proven successful in bringing attention to relatively ignored facets of migration and in dissolving dichotomous approaches among workers.   In North America there have been a regular series of such symposia, beginning in 1977 ( Keast and Morton 1980).   Practically all have resulted in edited volumes that are frequently cited (e.g., Hagan and Johnston 1989, Martin and Finch 1995).   The most recent one (“Birds of Two Worlds"), organized by Peter Marra and Russ Greenberg, was held last spring in West Virginia (http://natzoo.si.edu/smbc/scientificprogram.htm).   Despite many international participants at this symposium, there were no presentations on austral migration.   Furthermore, at the 3rd North American Ornithological Conference in New Orleans in 2002, several sessions were dedicated to the topic of migration (n = 36 talks given), but nobody discussed migration within South America.

The goals of our symposium-workshop were to: (1) identify gaps in knowledge and formulate common research goals to address those gaps, (2) introduce North and South American ornithologists to each other to facilitate transfer of technologies and application of theories across hemispheres, (3) encourage participants to gather standardized data on topics or in areas that are especially pressing (e.g., conservation-related), and (4) form a network of researchers who will collaborate in compiling and distributing standardized data from locations across South America.  

If this effort accomplishes nothing else, it will at least facilitate creation of research opportunities – communication in science garners better science.   For example, collaboration among researchers across continents would further the access of students in South America to new technologies and higher education at North American and European universities.   Likewise, North American participants would be afforded the chance to further their understanding of migration by considering, along with Latin American workers, what has been until now an understudied migratory system.

In summary, the symposium-workshop consisted of three components:(1) a full day of invited and contributed presentations, (2) a half-day symposium held as part of the Congress, and (3) a roundtable discussion.

Literature Cited

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