Range contraction in the pampas meadowlark Sturnella defilippii in the southern pampas grasslands of Argentina

The Vulnerable Pampas meadowlark Sturn- ella defilippii (Family Icteridae) is a Neotropical grassland bird that suffered a severe population reduction and range contraction during the 20th century. Formerly dis- tributed across most of the pampas grasslands, it is now confined to the southern tip of its original range. There are small groups of wintering birds in southern Brazil, a small reproductive population in eastern Uruguay, and the main reproductive population occurs on the southern pampas grasslands of Argentina. In this paper we report the results of an extensive field survey of these southern pampas grasslands, carried out to estimate the pampas meadowlark's population size and to iden- tify the factors potentially responsible for its range con- traction. During the 1999 breeding season we surveyed a total of 296 sample locations (transects, randomly selected points, and sites checked for nesting site re-occupation).We found 66 reproductive groups of pampas meadowlarks. The minimum population size and extent of occurrence were estimated to be 28,000 individuals and 4,810 km 2 , respectively. This value repre- sents a range contraction of c. 30% compared to that estimated in a study carried out between 1992 and 1996. Pampas meadowlarks re-occupied natural grassland sites for nesting that were used in previous breeding seasons when these sites remained undisturbed. Habitat transformation appears to be the main factor causing the range contraction of the pampas meadowlark. We suggest that long-term monitoring of this population and its preferred habitat, the natural grasslands, is required in order to ensure the conservation of this species.