Avifauna of primary temperate forests of uninhabited islands of Chiloe Archipelago, Chile

With the aim of determining species composition, habitat use, and diet of the bird community of primary forests in Chiloe archipelago, we censused 13 islands located south (43 degrees S; 74 degrees W) of Isla Grande de Chiloe. The forests of these islands are representative of the coastal forests of Southern Chile dominated by Aextoxicon punctatum and several tree species of the family Mirtaceae. We registered a total of 33 species: 25 Passeriformes, 3 Piciformes, 2 Apodiformes, 2 Psittaciformes and 1 Columbiforme. The total number of bird species was higher than those previously documented for secondary forests in southern Chile and Argentina. The number of bird species and the number of individuals per sampling station in each island were positively correlated with island area. More than 80% of the total number of bird individuals was composed by the hummingbird Sephanoides galeritus (22,6%), and five Passeriformes: Phrygilus patagonicus (14,2%), Elaenia albiceps (13,7%), Aphrastura spinicauda (13,1%), Turdus falcklandii (10,9%) y Scelorchilus rubecula (6%). These six species are also abundant in other temperate forests of southern Chile. During summer, forest birds were found to consume the fruits of eight plant species, and they could play a role as seed dispersers between islands as well as in colonizing successional areas.