Biologie et écologie du Toui à front roux dans le parc national de Los Nevados (Colombie)

Juan C. Verhelst, Ana M. Pfeifer, Oscar Orrego and Jorge E. Botero studied the population abundance and the general ecology studies of the Rufous-fronted Parakeet Bolborhynchus ferrugineifrons in the Los Nevados National Park, Colombia, mainly in the Laguna del Otún region, between march and december 2000. This area is considered important for the conservation of this endemic and endangered parrot.
They surveyed 297 km of line transects in the four habitats present: super-páramo (11.7%), páramo (68.2%), sub-páramo (15.9%) and andean forest (4.5%) to assess the population status, ecological preferences, and behaviour of the parakeet. Rufous-fronted Parakeet was recorded 18 times each in páramo and sub-páramo, but never in the other two habitats. They observed a total of 377 individuals; relative abundance varied considerably between habitats and localities, from 0.2 to 9.8 individuals/km. Relative abundance was considerably higher in sub-páramo areas around Laguna del Otún-El Bosque. Although páramo was the habitat most intensively surveyed, the species was observed more frequently feeding in or moving through sub-páramo; it was observed seven times in sub-páramo (19% of all records) versus three times in páramo (8% of all records). Parakeets were observed feeding on a wide variety of plants. Their observations suggest that seeds of grass Anthoxantum odoratum and fruits of Acaena elongata are the most important items in the diet. In general, the species was observed more frequently using zones altered by grazing and agriculture.