Three Bird Species Thrive in Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, Monitoring Shows

Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo — Monitoring by students from the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Felipe Carrillo Puerto has found that three bird species in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve are maintaining healthy populations.

The students, enrolled in the Community Development Engineering program, tracked the great curassow (Crax rubra), the ocellated turkey (Meleagris ocellata), and the crested guan (Penelope purpurascens) within the reserve’s medium-height forest, considered one of the most important ecosystems in Mexico.

Biologist Arturo Bayona Miramontes, who advises the student team, said all three species are listed under some level of risk due to habitat loss and other environmental factors.

The monitoring took place at the Ramonal Biological Station inside the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve. The work is funded by the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp) through its Conservation and Restoration Program (PROREST), aimed at generating data to strengthen biodiversity protection.

“We are tracking these magnificent species and finding that their conservation status is optimal, with seasonal reproductive periods and considerable density, which highlights the importance of this protected natural area for their conservation,” Bayona said.

The monitoring provides key insights into wildlife population conditions and helps reinforce conservation strategies for emblematic species of the Maya forest.