ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 lockdowns set a singular opportunity to perform scientific research in idle cities. The expected changes in urban ecology led us to conform a community composed of several volunteers which, following standardized protocols, conducted structured bird surveys across Colombia. We describe the process and experience of this initiative, conducted between 30 March and 30 June, 2020, and discuss recommendations to apply to future projects. The volunteer-based survey that we organized began with 93 collaborators in 40 urban centers, but ended with just 45 collaborators from 22 urban centers. Some issues that probably explain the drop in collaborators are commented on. This exercise was successful, gathering over 75,000 bird records of at least 250 bird species.
ABSTRACT
Changes in the nocturnal activity of birds during the COVID–19 pandemic lockdown in a neotropical city. The COVID–19 lockdown provided the opportunity to measure species biodiversity in urban environments under conditions divergent from regular urban rhythms. For 90 days, including weeks of strict lockdown and the subsequent relaxation of restrictions, we measured the presence and abundance of birds that were active at night at two sites in the city of Cali, Colombia. Our results show that species richness of nocturnal birds decreased 40 % to 58 % during the weeks with more human activity, adding further evidence to the biodiversity responses of the 'anthropause' on urban environments. © 2021 belongs to the authors.