AVIFAUNA OF PRIMARY TEMPERATE FORESTS OF UNINHABITED ISLANDS OF CHILOE ARCHIPELAGO, CHILE

With the aim of determining species composition, habitat use, and diet of the bird community of primary forests in Chiloe archipelago, we ce nsused 13 islands located south (43 degrees S; 74 degrees W) of Isla G rande de Chiloe. The forests of these islands are representative of th e coastal forests of Southern Chile dominated by Aextoxicon punctatum and several tree species of the family Mirtaceae. We registered a tota l of 33 species: 25 Passeriformes, 3 Piciformes, 2 Apodiformes, 2 Psit taciformes and 1 Columbiforme. The total number of bird species was hi gher than those previously documented for secondary forests in souther n Chile and Argentina. The number of bird species and the number of in dividuals per sampling station in each island were positively correlat ed with island area. More than 80% of the total number of bird individ uals was composed by the hummingbird Sephanoides galeritus (22,6%), an d five Passeriformes: Phrygilus patagonicus (14,2%), Elaenia albiceps (13,7%), Aphrastura spinicauda (13,1%), Turdus falcklandii (10,9%) y S celorchilus rubecula (6%). These six species are also abundant in othe r temperate forests of southern Chile. During summer, forest birds wer e found to consume the fruits of eight plant species, and they could p lay a role as seed dispersers between islands as well as in colonizing successional areas.