New records of the distribution of the Horned Screamer (Anhima cornuta) in tropical southwestern Ecuador

Abstract

We provide the first records of the Horned Screamer (Anhima cornuta) for Los Ríos province, western Ecuador. The Horned Screamer was found at two nearby localities situated in a mosaic of habitats including agroforestry systems, cattle pastures, rice fields, and natural wetlands locally known as pajonales. It is unclear whether these records represent a heretofore unknown population of the species, or indicate expansion from the Manglares-Churute Ecological Reserve in southern Guayas province, which until now included the only remnant population of the Pacific slope of the country. More surveys are needed to document the status and possible spread of the species in southwestern Ecuador.