Overall, this project aims to
provide comprehensive accounts of the life history and breeding
biology of Ecuador's mainland birds. The goals of this project have
expanded and developed since its creation in 2001 by Rob
C. Dobbs, Rudy
A. Gelis, Harold
F. Greeney, and
Paul R.
Martin. NHEMA was
originally focused on birds of the eastern Ecuadorian Andes, centered
around the Yanayacu
Biological Station, and
has previously been known as Breeding Birds of the Eastern Andes
(BBEA) and Breeding and Conservation of East Andean Birds (BCEAB).
Due to the past success of the original, smaller projects, we have
expanded the scope of the project to include all resident breeding
birds on mainland Ecuador. This project continues to intensively
study all birds by using non-intrusive videotaping of nests,
measuring of important aspects of breeding biology at nests, and
conducting focal observations of birds away from nests. The immediate
result of these studies is the documentation of previously unknown
natural history and breeding biology for Ecuadorian birds, all of
which face increasing threats of habitat fragmentation and
destruction. These intensive, baseline data are made available to
locals, NGO's, and scientists worldwide through scientific
publications prepared by the various
biologists involved in the
project. Additionally, NHEMA hopes to develop and encourage
interest in the study of Ecuador's avifauna through the creation of
an online
database (Proyecto Ecuador
Nidícola)
which summarizes nesting
records for mainland Ecuador. It is our sincere hope that our studies
will serve to attract international conservation money and foster
local support for preservation of the many unique and highly
threatened habitats found in Ecuador and elsewhere in the
world.
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