Conservation of the Black-and-Chestnut Eagle in Ecuador

My research had two aspects; 1) Field research of the Golden-winged Manakin (Masius chrysopterus) 2) A literature search and interdisciplinary meeting on endangered Black-and-Chestnut Eagles (Spizaetus isidori). The endangered Black-and-Chestnut Eagle is one of the least studied raptor populations in South America. With the rapid deforestation found in South America, specifically Ecuador, the population continues to decline. I participated in the initial meeting of a project to understand habitat use, population size within the Tandayapa Valley, and juvenile survival rates. This information will be used to institute and promote conservational efforts for the cloudforests of the western Ecuadorian slope. I contributed by describing the current status of published research on the eagle. I found two published papers (Valdez and Osborn, 2004 and Zuluaga and Echeverry-Galvis, 2016) that reported the elusive nature and continued conflict with human-eagle interactions aiding in final decision to focus on the Black-and-Chestnut Eagle population in Ecuador.