Abstract
The Metropolitan Region of Greater São Luís (MRGSL) is located in northern Brazil, along the Amazon Coast, in the central part of the shore of Maranhão State. This region lacks a comprehensive checklist of bird species, which is essential to support conservation efforts. To present a list of birds for the MRGSL, we gathered records from published literature, environmental assessment reports, data repositories (GBIF, VertNet), and online citizen science (CS) platforms (WikiAves, iNaturalist, and eBird). Each record was subjected to several filters before being included in our compilation. We compiled 9,824 records for 399 bird species. Most species (78.44%) had documented records, of which 96.80% were photos or audio recordings taken by CS amateurs and deposited on WikiAves. Seven species are threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List and 12 species are considered under threat in Brazil. Of the total species, 37 are migratory birds, and five are mangrove-exclusive birds. As our results show, CS has contributed disproportionately to the knowledge of species occurrence in the region. This study adds to the knowledge of the region’s avifauna and provides insight into the structure of bird communities. However, there is a lack of systematic studies on key biological aspects of birds, including population dynamics, community structure, and the environmental factors that regulate them. In addition, studying the synergistic influences of impacts on these populations and communities is critical for effective conservation.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Vale S.A., which through the Instituto Tecnológico Vale financed the project “Biodiversity of São Marcos and São José Bays, Maranhão, Brazil”.
Funding
This work was funded by Vale S.A., project “Biodiversity of São Marcos and São José Bays, Maranhão, Brazil”.
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Conceptualization: [SMA, GG]; literature search: [SMA]; data curation: [SMA, GG]; data analysis: [SMA]; writing - original draft preparation: [SMA]; funding acquisition: [PWS-F]; supervision: [VT]. ECG prepared the maps, and all authors critically reviewed the work.
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Almeida, S.M., Gonsioroski, G., Marques, N.C.S. et al. “Together is better”: the contribution of academy, citizen science and gray literature for the knowledge of the urban avifauna of a megadiverse easternmost Amazonian ecotonal border. Ornithol. Res. 33, 19 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43388-025-00224-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43388-025-00224-5