| Range Description: |
Phoenicopterus chilensis breeds in central Peru (apparently erratically, irregularly and in small numbers)4, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile and perhaps erratically in Paraguay (at least one breeding record)1, with a few wintering in Uruguay and south-east Brazil, and vagrants in Ecuador and the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). It occurs on coastal mudflats, estuaries, lagoons and salt-lakes at elevations up to 4,500 m. Breeding habitat is typified by the presence of suitable salinities and islands with extensive surrounding mudflats - conditions that do not occur each year. At Mar Chiquita, birds bred in only nine of the 26 years to 19995. In the mid-1970s, the population was estimated at 500,000 birds, but more recent figures of 100,000 in Argentina, up to 30,000 in Chile, and tens of thousands in Peru and Bolivia, suggest that no more than 200,000 individuals persist. Undoubtedly declining, its perceived extent is perhaps misleading, and may partially reflect improved census methods3. It has probably been subject to intensive egg-harvesting since the arrival of humans in South America and, in recent years, egg-collectors have been responsible for the partial or complete failure of colonies in Bolivia2,3. Mar Chiquita (Argentina), perhaps the most important breeding site, is threatened by abstraction of water for irrigation projects5. Mining has wrought extensive habitat alteration, and the species also suffers from hunting and tourism-related disturbance2. CITES Appendix II. CMS Appendix II.
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Decreasing
