Threats to the Cozumel Thrasher

Possible conservation threats to Toxostoma guttatum include:Hurricane Wilma over Cozumel, 21 Oct 2005

  • Habitat destruction associated with hurricanes, especially Gilbert (severe damage, 14 September 1988), Roxanne (10-11 October 1995), Emily (July 2005), and Wilma (20-21 Oct 2005; image at right, http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov)
  • Introduced predators, especially Boa constrictor (boa snakes)
  • Human development & associated land-use change (fragmentation, degradation)
  • Introduced diseases

 

Boas introduced on Cozumel in 1971; released by commercial movie crew at termination of film project

Now abundant throughout Cozumel. Young boas are strongly arboreal and are a known predator of birds.

Photographs from Cozumel
© Robert L. Curry

References about conservation threats to Cozumel’s vertebrates:

Cuarón, A. D., M. A. Martínez-Morales, K. W. McFadden, D. Valenzuela, and M. E. Gompper. 2004. The status of dwarf carnivores on Cozumel Island, Mexico. Biodiversity and Conservation 13:317-331

Martínez-Morales, M. A., and A. D. Cuarón. 1999. Boa constrictor, an introduced predator threatening the endemic fauna on Cozumel Island, Mexico. Biodiversity and Conservation 8:957-963

Macouzet F., T., and P. Escalante Pliego. 2001. Registros del Cuitlacoche de Cozumel Toxostoma guttatum posteriores al Huracán Gilberto. Cotinga 15: 32-33

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El cuitlacoche de cozumel: the endemic thrasher of Cozumel Island
http://robertcurrylab.com/cozumel-thrasher/
© Robert L. Curry
Page last updated: 7 Sep 2016