Birds of the Gorgona National Park

Abstract

The national park is located on the west coast of the Department of Cauca in the Pacific Ocean, between the coordinates 2º 47' and 3º 6' north latitude and 78° 6' and 78° 18' west latitude. Its 49,200 ha. include the islands of Gorgona and Gorgonilla and several rocky hills devoid of vegetation. The distance to the mainland is 56 km. from Guapi, a coastal town in Cauca. This small archipelago is located at the front of the Neotropical Pacific Faunal province that includes the coasts of northern Ecuador, Colombia and southern Panama. The avifauna of this province presents many endemic species and according to Schauensee, 1964, some of the most interesting bird species of Colombia. The region is covered with dense lowland jungle, very humid with rainfall of up to 10,000 mm. in some places. On the estuaries of the numerous rivers, there are large extensions of mangrove swamps furrowed by labyrinths of arms and estuaries of brackish water, where the fauna is exuberant.