麻豆淫院

Lands inhabited by Indigenous peoples in the tropics host much of the world's biodiversity. An estimated 60 million Indigenous people around the world directly depend on tropical forests for survival, and in turn, many Indigenous territories tropical forests from degradation and destruction.

Many Indigenous people in the tropics also have important ecological knowledge, and many common and scientific names of birds, for example, stem from traditional knowledge and beliefs. Some bird names still used today are derived from Indigenous languages that are no longer spoken or known. Unfortunately, traditional knowledge and practices developed over thousands of years are now highly threatened, as many languages are declining in parallel with the catastrophic loss of biodiversity.

Given the concurrence of in many regions, conservation approaches increasingly include community engagement in local languages. For example, in New Zealand, M膩ori names are used for birds such as the k膩k膩p艒 (Strigops habroptila) and t奴墨 (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae), and in Hawai'i, Hawai'ian names are used for birds such as the 'i'iwi (Drepanis coccinea) and the 膩kohekohe (Palmeria dolei).

A founder of the modern field of ethnobiology, Brent Berlin, hypothesized that people in traditional societies categorize plant and animal taxa using common names that correspond to scientific species, as recognized in the taxonomic system founded by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus. However, few studies have tested this hypothesis with Indigenous names in languages belonging to oral traditions that were not put into written form until recently.

We assembled a team of Peruvian and American researchers to document bird species in Amazonian Indigenous territories where no previous bird surveys have been published. Between 2004 and 2020, we conducted 15 months of field research in the western Amazon basin of northern Peru, in the vicinity of the Mara帽贸n River, a major source of the Amazon River, near the border with Ecuador, where approximately 40,000 Indigenous residents speak Aguaruna (locally called awaj煤n) as a native language.

The Aguaruna language existed exclusively in oral form until the 20th century, when Christian missionaries worked with native speakers to develop its . In this region of the Amazon, entry into Indigenous territories by non-residents is only possible by special permission, a factor that allows Aguaruna communities to be in maintaining control over their lands.

Using binoculars and mist nets, we conducted bird surveys and sampling to produce our published in the journal Birds that identifies 427 bird species in 51 families in our study area. During our fieldwork, we consulted with Aguaruna experts to identify local names for bird species and evaluated the occurrence of Aguaruna bird names with reference to scientific nomenclature.

Birds documented include 419 year-round residents and eight wintering Nearctic鈥揘eotropical migratory species. Past studies had suggested that unique Aguaruna names exist for 80%鈥�90% of animal species present in our study region, so we expected a majority of the 427 bird species we identified in the study area to have unique Aguaruna names.

Instead, we found that unique Aguaruna names were reported for just over one-third (38%; 161) of bird species documented, while 31% (132) shared generic names with one or more other species and the remaining 31% (134) of the species in the study area did not have any known Aguaruna name.

We found avian family membership to be a significant predictor of whether a bird species had a unique Aguaruna name. Avian families in which a majority of the species documented had unique Aguaruna names included parrots (Psittacidae; 88%), nightjars (Caprimulgidae; 80%), and manakins (Pipridae; 78%).

Factors that appeared to influence whether bird species had Aguaruna names included conspicuous appearance (e.g., large, colorful), vocalizations (e.g., loud, distinctive), and/or behavior (e.g., lekking, ant-following), as well as habitat (e.g., occurring in open or human-dominated environments as opposed to forest interior).

Avian families in which a majority of species had no unique Aguaruna name included many small and cryptic species of forest interior, such as hummingbirds (Trochilidae), ovenbirds and woodcreepers (Furnariidae), and tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae).

• 

• 

In some oral traditions in regions with lower bird diversity, unique Indigenous names may be given to most bird species, such as in the Samoan islands of Polynesia, where the majority of ~70 known bird species have unique .

However, in a region with such high bird diversity as western Amazonia, with an estimated ~500 bird species in our study area, it is questionable whether unique Indigenous names might exist for most species in an exclusively oral tradition, particularly as many of these species are secretive, elusive, and difficult or impossible to distinguish without tools such as binoculars or mist nets.

Nevertheless, Aguaruna culture has a close relationship with birds, whom they consider to have participated directly in the development of their culture. In addition to naming many of the bird species around them, Aguaruna residents also have names for avian behavior, such as p铆shak saayu, which is known to biologists as mixed-species flocking.

Aguaruna children may be named after birds, such as s煤gka, the (Rupicola peruvianus). Aguaruna communities may also be named after birds, such as saas谩, the (Opisthocomus hoazin), a species previously found in this area before unfortunately being hunted to local extinction. In , birds were people before they became birds, and serve as intermediaries between the natural and supernatural worlds.

Our findings on birds in Aguaruna territories, together with a first systematic list of Aguaruna bird names as they correspond to scientific names, provide a basis on which to increase engagement and collaboration between Indigenous communities, ornithologists, and conservation actors in this region. In the process of conducting this research, we also made new discoveries, such as and for birds that had not been previously described.

Continuing to document and elucidate Indigenous names and knowledge of birds, particularly those that occur in oral traditions that may otherwise disappear, promises to make valuable contributions towards understanding, valuing, and protecting the natural and cultural heritage of humanity, both in Amazonia and around the world.

This story is part of , where researchers can report findings from their published research articles. for information about Science X Dialog and how to participate.

Nico Arcilla, PhD, directs the International Bird Conservation Partnership (IBCP), whose mission is to foster and support research, outreach, and partnerships to advance bird conservation.

Benjam铆n Salazar Samecash, MSc, is a biologist with degrees from Peru鈥檚 Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, an Aguaruna (awaj煤n) community member, and an IBCP fellow conducting research on birds in indigenous Amazonian territories.