Birds and their habitats in a private reserve in the Cariri region of the state of Paraiba, Northeast Brazil

Even though the caatinga has been identified as an important area of endemism for South American birds, few studies have been conducted on the distribution, evolution and ecology of birds in this region. Understanding how habitats contribute to maintain the regional bird diversity is extremely important. This study was carried out at the (RPPN) Fazenda Almas, in the Cariri region of the state of Paraiba, Northeast Brazil. We present results of an inventory based on 24 consecutive months of sampling and discuss the composition of the avifauna in different habitats occurring at the RPPN. We recorded 162 bird species, and estimated a local richness varying between 165 and 171 species, with 12 endemic species from Northeast Brazil. The open arboreal caatinga was inhabited by 107 species, followed by open field areas (104 species), dense arboreal caatinga(101 species), and aquatic environments (22 species). The fact that some endemic bird species do not occur in dense arboreal caatinga vegetation, but instead in more open natural environments such as open shrub caatinga, suggest that the mosaic of dense caatinga areas and natural open environments, as at present, is not a recent condition of the vegetation of the caatinga region.