"El rango de distribución restringido y el pequeño tamaño poblacional del gorrión de Worthen han ocasionado que esta ave sea considerada una especie amenazada en México y a nivel internacional. Aquí reportamos nuevos registros de esta ave los cuales expanden su rango de distribución conocido en los últimos cuarenta años y abren la posibilidad del uso de hábitats adicionales que no habían sido documentados anteriormente. Por lo tanto es importante realizar esfuerzos para documentar posible actividad reproductiva en estos hábitats.

Canales Delgadillo, Julio César

Chapa Vargas, Leonardo

English

Repositorio IPICYT

Acta Zool. Mex. (n.s.) 31(2) (2015)	 313ISSN	0065-1737	 Acta Zoológica Mexicana (n.s.), 31(2): 313-317 (2015)Nota Científica(Short Communication)NEW DISTRIBUTIONAL RECORDS FOR THE ENDANGERED WORTHEN’S SPARROW SPIZELLA WORTHENI IN SAN LUIS POTOSI, MEXICORecibido:	21/03/2014;	aceptado:	23/02/2015Canales-Delgadillo, J. C., Chapa-Vargas, L., Carlos Gómez, J. A., Arreola Aguirre, J. 2015.	Nuevos	 registros	de	distribución	del	gorrión	de	Worthen	Spizella wortheni	en	San	Luis	Potosí,	México.	Acta Zoológica Mexicana (n. s.), 31(2):	313-317.RESUMEN. El	rango	de	distribución	restringido	y	el	pequeño	tamaño	poblacional	del	gorrión	de	Worthen	han	ocasionado	que	esta	ave	sea	considerada	una	especie	amenazada	en	México	y	a	nivel	internacional.	Aquí	reportamos	nuevos	registros	de	esta	ave	los	cuales	expanden	su	rango	de	distribución	conocido	en	los	últimos	cuarenta	años	y	abren	la	posibilidad	del	uso	de	hábitats	adicionales	que	no	habían	sido	docu-mentados	anteriormente.	Por	lo	tanto	es	importante	realizar	esfuerzos	para	documentar	posible	actividad	reproductiva	en	estos	hábitats.Palabras clave:	Gorrión	de	Worthen,	Altiplano,	conservación,	mane-jo,	rango	de	distribución.Among	 the	 Mexican	 Avifauna,	 the	 Worthen’s	 sparrow	(Spizella wortheni)	is	considered	one	of	the	rarest	passeri-nes.	Its	distribution	range	has	been	severely	reduced	pre-sumably	as	a	consequence	of	land	use	changes	(Wege	et al.	1993),	which	have	modified	the	structure	and	function	of	ecosystems	associated	with	arid	and	semiarid	areas	of	the	Mexican	High	Plateau.The	Worthen’s	sparrow	has	been	included	in	the	IUCN	Red	List	as	endangered,	as	well	as	in	the	Mexican	list	of	species	at	risk	(SEMARNAT	2010)	as	threatened	due	to	the	small	recorded	population	size	(BirdLife	international	2000;	 Canales-Delgadillo	 &	 Scott-Morales	 2012);	 and	the	limited	number	of	sightings	in	areas	other	than	those	reported	previously	 (Wege	et al.	1993;	Berhstock	et al.	1997;	 Canales-Delgadillo	 et al.	 2007;	 Scott-Morales	 et al.	2008;	Canales	del	Castillo	et al.	2010)	for	Coahuila,	Nuevo	Leon	and	northern	San	Luis	Potosi.Recent	studies	have	focused	on	the	genetic	structure	of	the	remaining	populations,	and	how	this	bird	copes	with	habitat	loss	(Canales-Delgadillo	et al.	2012).	The	previo-us	results,	in	addition	to	reporting	behavioral	habits	of	the	species,	suggested	the	possibility	of	the	existence	of	unk-nown	populations	in	other	areas.	The	Worthen’s	sparrow,	as	other	birds	from	arid	and	semiarid	areas,	shows	noma-dic	 behavior	 (Canales-Delgadillo	et al.	 2012).	This	 im-plies	that	individuals	constantly	move	across	landscapes	searching	for	areas	having	the	best	conditions	to	carry	out	all	 their	activities,	 including	feeding,	mating,	nest	cons-truction,	egg	laying	and	hatching	(Anderson	1980;	Dean,	1997,	2004).	This	behavior	could	facilitate	the	establish-ment	 of	 populations	 in	 areas	 not	 previously	 occupied,	abandonment	and	re-colonization	of	previously	occupied	sites	and	partial	isolation	of	these	newly	established	po-pulations	for	a	number	of	generations.	Nevertheless,	the-se	processes	could	also	benefit	the	species	by	promoting	gene	 flow	 between	 populations	 and	 the	 increase	 of	 the	overall	genetic	variability.	On	the	other	hand,	nomadism	might	also	complicate	the	identification	of	the	entire	dis-tribution	range	of	the	species.Here	 we	 report	 new	 distributional	 findings	 of	 the	Worthen’s	sparrow	in	San	Luis	Potosi,	Mexico.	These	re-cords	 constitute	 the	 southernmost	 sightings	 recorded	 in	the	Mexican	High	Plateau	in	the	last	40	years.We	conducted	bird	surveys	from	August	to	November	2012	 and	 from	 March	 to	 November	 2013	 in	 the	 muni-cipalities	 of	 Catorce	 and	 Charcas,	 in	 an	 area	 known	 as	the	“Zona	Ixtlera”	of	San	Luis	Potosi	(Fig.	1)	that	is	part	of	Wirikuta,	a	protected	area	which	possess	a	high	bio-diversity	 value	 because	 endangered	 plant	 species	 from	the	 Cactaceae	 family	 and	 others	 occur.	 Nine	 sampling	sites	were	established	within	three	ejidos	locally	known	as	“Guadalupe	Victoria”,	“Presa	de	Santa	Gertrudis”	and	“La	Cardoncita”	based	on	vegetation	characteristics	(Ta-ble	1).	Vegetation	types	in	the	region	include	1)	“Izotal”:	rosetophil	shrublands	dominated	by	arboreal	elements	of	the	Yucca	genus	and	a	combination	of	creosote	bush	(La-rrea tridentata)	 and	 tarbush	 (Fluorensia cernua)	 as	 the	dominant	species	at	the	shrub	layer,	and	2)	microphylous	shrublands	dominated	by	creosote	bush	in	which	the	tree	layer	has	been	eliminated;	for	several	decades,	 local	 in-habitants	extracted	the	fiber	from	Yucca	trees	located	in	the	immediacies	of	small	villages	to	manufacture	ropes.	More	recently,	this	activity	has	been	abandoned,	but	in-tense	goat	grazing	now	 inhibits	 tree	establishment	 (Au-thors	pers.	obs.).Bird	surveys	consisted	of	operating	21	12	m	x	2.5	m	mist	nets	during	 three	consecutive	days	and	conducting	line	 transects	of	approximately	500	m	in	 length	 in	each	314	 Canales-Delgadillo et	al.: Distributional records of Spizella	wortheniof	 the	nine	study	sites	 from	sunrise	until	approximately	1100	GMT/UTC.We	heard	 and	 sighted	 three	Worthen’s	 sparrow	ma-les	during	the	morning	of	10	and	11	May	2013.	All	three	individuals	were	 located	 in	an	area	of	 Izotal	dominated	by	Yucca spp.	and	creosote	bush	where	the	shrub	height	ranged	 from	1.4	 to	1.6	m.	The	 same	dates	we	captured	three	individuals	in	nets;	two	on	10	May,	and	one	on	11	May.	 Two	 more	 Worthen’s	 sparrows	 were	 captured	 at	the	same	site	on	25	and	27	October,	2013,	and	one	more	individual	was	captured	in	the	same	site	a	year	later,	on	19	June	2014.	These	captures	allowed	us	to	confirm	the	identity	of	the	species	(Fig.	2).	We	measured	and	weig-hed	the	captured	birds	and	conducted	visual	exploration	for	sexing	as	recommended	by	Ralph	et al.	 (1993)	(Ta-ble	 2).	 One	 of	 the	 captured	 individuals	 in	 May	 had	 an	enlarged	 cloacal	 protuberance,	 suggesting	 possible	 re-productive	 activity.	 All	 three	 captured	 individuals	 we-re	 marked	 with	 aluminum	 leg	 bands,	 provided	 by	 the	Secretariat	 of	 the	 Environment	 and	 Natural	 Resources	(SEMARNAT),	and	released.	On	subsequent	surveys,	a	single	Worthen’s	sparrow	male	was	heard	and	sighted	in	the	afternoon	of	1	June	2013	in	an	area	of	microphylous	shrubland	which	has	been	degraded	by	Yucca spp.	extrac-tion	and	goat	overgrazing.	This	area	is	dominated	almost	exclusively	by	creosote	bush	but with	 scattered	presen-ce	of	 tarbush.	On	10	 July	2013,	we	 sighted	 three	more	Worthen’s	sparrows	in	an	area	located	near	the	ejido	“La	Cardoncita”.	These	birds	were	singing	males	perched	on	Yucca spp.	 trees	and	creosote	bushes	on	both	sides	of	a	rural	road.The	 findings	of	 the	Worthen’s	 sparrow	 in	our	 study	area	together	with	the	records	reported	in	the	internet	by	Rene	Valdés	and	Cinthya	Ruiz	Heredia	(eBird	2012),	in-creases	 its	known	distribution	range	66	 to	91	km	to	 the	south.	 Previously	 published	 southernmost	 records	 for	this	 species	correspond	 to	an	area	known	as	El	Manan-tial	(Fig.	1,	Canales-Delgadillo	et al.	2012)	characterized	by	 the	 presence	of	microphylous	 shrubland	mixed	with	short	grassland	which	is	also	located	in	San	Luis	Potosi.	Our	findings	validate	the	observations	reported	in	the	in-ternet	by	Valdés	and	Ruiz	near	to	our	study	area.	These	Figure 1. Study	area	and	location	of	previous	and	current	records	of	the	Worthen’s	sparrow.Table 1.	Vegetation	type,	site	code	(ID)	and	location	of	sampling	sites.Vegetation	type Sampling	site ID Coordinates	UTM	Q14Izotal: Yucca sp.	dominated	with	a	mixture	of	creosote	bush	(Larrea tridentata),	tarbush	(Fluorensia cernua)	and	cacti.	Shrub	layer	height	1.4-1.6	m.Guadalupe	Victoria GVI E	278138	N	2586736Presa	Santa	Gertrudis SGI E	278624	N	2593012La	Cardoncita LCI E	274891	N	2607712Microphilous	shrublads	dominated	by:	Creosote	bush;	Tarbush	might	also	be	present	in	low	densities,	and	Yucca	trees	are	scarce.	Highly	impacted	by	goat	overgrazing	and	Yucca	extraction.	Shrub	layer	height	<	1.4	m.Guadalupe	Victoria GVG E	274258	N	2579464Presa	Santa	Gertrudis SGG E	277698	N	2597368La	Cardoncita LCG E	271366	N	2609731Villages:	Rural	inhabited	areas	where	most	natural	vegetation	was	removed.	Some	Yucca	trees,	mesquites	and	backyard	Opuntia	plantations	compose	the	vegetation	cover.Guadalupe	Victoria GVP E	276116	N	2582864Presa	Santa	Gertrudis SGP E	277976	N	2599358La	Cardoncita LCP E	271750	N	2610760Acta Zool. Mex. (n.s.) 31(2) (2015)	 315last	reports	did	not	provide	details	about	sexes	or	repro-ductive	activity.	Valdés,	reported	sightings	of	the	species	from	January	2010	to	February	2011	near	Santo	Domin-go,	a	small	town	located	approximately	75	km	northwest	of	Charcas,	San	Luis	Potosi,	and	on	February	2013	Ruiz	Heredia	recorded	45	Worthen’s	sparrows	at	the	southern	portion	of	 the	 latter	 locality.	These	 reports	did	not	 spe-cify	vegetation	characteristics	of	the	sites	accompanying	these	records,	and	there	are	no	details	on	the	number	of	birds	observed	by	Valdés	(eBird	2012).	Because	vegeta-tion	around	these	towns	is	highly	heterogeneous,	ranging	from	bare	soils	to	induced	grasslands,	and	disturbed	shru-blands,	it	is	difficult	to	infer	the	vegetation	types	to	which	these	birds	were	associated.Our	findings	have	several	implications	regarding	ha-bitat	associations	of	the	species	and	to	prioritize	conser-vation	 planning.	 First,	 the	 Worthen’s	 sparrow	 may	 be	able	 to	use	more	habitat	 types	 than	previously	 reported	Figure 2. Individual	Worthen’s	sparrow	captured	on	May	10,	2013.316	 Canales-Delgadillo et	al.: Distributional records of Spizella	wortheni(see	 Scott-Morales	 et al.	 2008;	 Canales-Delgadillo	 &	Scott-Morales	 2012).	 This	 species	 is	 considered	 to	 be	closely	associated	to	habitats	where	Mexican	prairie	dog	(Cynomys mexicanus)	 colonies	 exist,	 and	 therefore	 this	bird	was	regarded	as	highly	restricted	to	the	shrub-grass-land	areas	that	these	mammals	inhabit	(Scott-Morales	et al.	 2008).	 The	 records	 we	 report	 here,	 and	 those	 made	by	Valdés	and	Riuz	correspond	 to	sites	where	 there	are	neither	colonies	of	the	Mexican	prairie	dog	nor	areas	of	association	 between	 grasslands	 and	 shrubs.	 This	 result	opens	the	possibility	that	shrublands	dominated	by	Yucca spp.	and/or	tall	individuals	of	creosote	bush	and	tarbush	could	provide	habitat	for	this	endangered	species.	Howe-ver,	 whether	 Izotal	 and	 microphylous	 shrubland	 lands-capes	with	moderate	 to	 intense	 disturbances	 created	 by	anthropogenic	activities	in	the	region	provide	habitat	for	this	species	is	a	hypothesis	that	still	needs	to	be	evaluated.	Our	sightings	may	have	been	related	to	various	possibi-lities	 such	 as	nomadic	movements	of	 some	 individuals,	dispersal	irruptive	movements,	range	expansion	resulting	from	 anthropogenic	 disturbances,	 or	 simply	 because	 in	the	past	not	enough	ornithological	surveys	had	been	con-ducted	in	the	region.	The	only	evidence	we	have	so	far	in	favor	of	the	range	expansion	due	to	anthropogenic	distur-bances	consists	of	the	presence	of	singing	males	and	one	individual	 with	 a	 cloacal	 protuberance	 which	 suggests	there	 could	be	more	breeding	 sites	 than	 those	 currently	known	(Canales-Delgadillo	et al.	2007;	Garza	de-León	et al.	2007;	Canales-del	Castillo	et al.	2010),	and	that	the	re-cords	presented	here	were	made	both	within	the	breeding	and	non-breeding	seasons,	but	no	direct	breeding	eviden-ce	 has	 been	 obtained	 so	 far.	 Secondly,	 the	 presence	 of	the	Worthen’s	sparrow	in	Wirikuta	enhances	the	impor-tance	of	this	protected	area	significantly.	The	Worthen’s	sparrow	joins	more	 than	60	resident	and	migratory	bird	species	 that	 inhabit	 in	 the	 area	 (Garza-Hurtado	 2011).	Finally,	 increasing	 our	 understanding	 of	 actual	 current	distribution	range	and	location	of	possible	unknown	po-pulations	is	necessary	in	order	to	prioritize	conservation	actions.	Efforts	 to	conserve	and	effectively	manage	 this	area	should	be	implemented	in	order	to	preserve	the	habi-tat	needed	by	this	endemic	bird	and	other	species.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We	thank	the	useful	comments	and	sug-gestions	of	two	anonymous	reviewers	to	improve	this	report	and	to	the	public	database	eBird	for	publishing	information	on	the	records	made	by	Rene	Valdés	and	Cinthya	Ruiz	Heredia.LITERATURE CITEDAndersson, M.	1980.	Nomadism	and	site	tenacity	as	alternative	repro-ductive	tactics	in	birds.	Journal of Animal Ecology,	49:	175-184.Behrstock, R. A., Sexton, C. W., Lesley, G. W., Eubanks, T. L. & Gee, J. P.	 1997.	First	 nesting	 records	 of	Worthen’s	 sparrow	(Spizella wortheni)	for	Nuevo	Leon,	Mexico,	with	habitat	charac-terization	of	the	nest	site	and	notes	on	ecology,	voice,	additional	sighting	and	leg	coloration.	Cotinga,	8:	27-33.BirdLife International.	2000.	Threatened Birds of the World.	Lynx	editions	 and	 BirdLife	 International.	 Barcelona	 and	 Cambridge,	UK.	P:	542.Canales-Delgadillo, J., Scott-Morales, L., Cotera Correa, M. & Pando, M. M.	2007.	Observaciones	sobre	la	temporada	reproduc-tiva	de	Spizella wortheni.	Ciencia-UANL,	10(2):	160-167.Canales-Delgadillo, J., Scott-Morales, L. & Korb, J.	2012.	The	in-fluence	of	habitat	fragmentation	on	genetic	diversity	of	a	rare	bird	species	that	commonly	faces	environmental	fluctuations.	Journal of Avian Biology,	43:	168-176.Canales-Delgadillo, J. & Scott-Morales, L.	2012.	Uso de hábitat y relaciones sociales. El gorrión de Worthen en el Altiplano Mexi-cano.	Editorial	Académica	Española.	Saarbrücken,	Deutschland.Canales-del Castillo, R., González-Rojas, J. I., Ruvalcaba-Orte-ga, I. & García-Ramírez, A.	 2010.	New	breeding	 localities	 of	Worthen’s	Sparrows	in	northeastern	Mexico.	Journal of Field Or-nithology,	81:	5-12.Dean, W. R. J.	1997.	The	distribution	and	biology	of	nomadic	birds	in	the	Karoo,	South	Africa.	-	Journal of Biogeography,	24:	769-779.Dean, W. R. J.	2004.	Nomadic desert birds.	-	Springer.	Berlin	Hei-delberg.Table 2.	Measurements,	identification	information	and	coordinates	of	Worthen’s	sparrows	recorded	in	San	Luis	Potosi,	including	five	individuals	captured	and	banded.Individual Sex Weight(g)Win(mm)Culmen(mm)Total	length(mm) Ring	number SiteDate(dd/mm/yy)CoordinatesUTM	Q141 U 13 71 8.4 131 B00474 SGI 10/05/13 E	278451	N	25927362 U 12 71 8.7 138 B00467 SGI 10/05/13 E	278711	N	25929063 M 14 68 5.5 128 B00473 SGI 11/05/13 E	278711	N	25929064 M — — — — — GVG 01/06/13 E	274117		N	25794635 M — — — — — LCI 10/07/13 E	276059	N	26056356 M — — — — — LCI 10/07/13 E	276056	N	26057167 U 12 68 8 131 F00075 SGI 25/10/13 E	278500	N	25929898 U 12 70 8.6 131 F00063 SGI 27/10/13 E	278500	N	2592989Footnote	table	2:	U	=	unknown,	M	=	male.	Sites	as	in	table	1.Acta Zool. Mex. (n.s.) 31(2) (2015)	 317eBird.	2012.	eBird:	An	online	database	for	bird	distribution	and	abun-dance	 [web	 application].	 eBird,	 Ithaca	 New	 York.	 Available:	http://www.ebird.org	(accessed	January	13	2014).Garza de León, A., Moran, R. I., Cancino, F., Tinajero, H. R. & López, S.	 2007.	Parámetros	 reproductivos	y	nueva	 localidad	de	anidación	para	el	gorrión	de	Worthen	(Spizella wortheni)	en	el	es-tado	de	Coahuila,	México.	Ornitología Neotropical,	18:	243-249.Garza-Hurtado, F. 2011.	Respuesta	de	la	avifauna	a	los	cambios	en	la	estructura	vegetal	en	un	gradiente	de	degradación	del	altiplano	potosino.	M.Sc.	Thesis.	Instituto	Potosino	de	Investigación	Cien-tífica	y	Tecnológica	A.C.	México.Ralph, C. J., Geupel, G. R., Pyle, P., Martin, T. E. & DeSante, D. F.	 1993.	 Handbook of field methods for monitoring land birds.	Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-144-www,	U.S.	Dept	of	Agriculture,	CA,	USA.Scott-Morales, L. Nocedal, J., Cotera, M. & Canales-Delgadillo, J. C.	2008.	Worthen’s	sparrow	(Spizella wortheni)	in	the	northern	Mexican	Plateau.	Southwestern Naturalist,	53:	91-95.Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, SEMAR-NAT.	2010.	Norma	Oficial	Mexicana	(NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010),	 Protección	 ambiental-Especies	 Nativas	 de	 México	 de	Flora	 y	 Fauna	 Silvestres-Categorías	 de	 Riesgo	 y	 Especificacio-nes	para	su	Inclusión,	Exclusión	o	Cambio-Lista	de	Especies	en	Riesgo.	Diario	Oficial	de	la	Federación.	30	de	diciembre	de	2010,	México,	DF.Wege, D. C., Howell, S. N. G. & Sada, A. M.	1993.	The	distribution	and	status	of	Worthen’s	sparrow	Spizella wortheni:	a	review.	Bird Conservation International,	3:	211-220.Julio C. CANALES-DELGADILLO,1 Leonardo CHAPA-VARGAS,1 Jorge A. CARLOS GÓMEZ2 y Jachar ARREOLA AGUIRRE21División	de	Ciencias	Ambientales,	Instituto	Potosino	de	Investigación	Científica	y	Tecnológica	A.	C.	Camino	a	la	Presa	San	Jose	2055.	C.P.	78218,	San	Luis	Potosí,	México.	<julio.canales@ipicyt.edu.mx>	Corresponding	author:	<lchapa@ipicyt.edu.mx>2Centro	Universitario	de	Ciencias	Biológicas	y	Agropecuarias	UDG.	Km	15.5	Carretera	a	Nogales,	Predio	las	Agujas,	Zapopan,	Jalisco,	México.	<jacg250686@hotmail.com>	<thc-snake.soul@hotmail.com>

Nuevos registros de distribución del gorrión de Worthen Spizella wortheni en San Luis Potosí, México

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Nuevos registros de distribución del gorrión de Worthen Spizella wortheni en San Luis Potosí, México

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