This EBA, encompassing the Caribbean slope from eastern Guatemala to western Panama, is characterized by lowland and foothill tropical evergreen forest from sea-level to c.1,350 m and thus overlaps altitudinally with the lowest parts of the Costa Rica and Panama highlands (EBA 020). The centre of the EBA extends from the Sula valley in western Honduras, along the coast and rivers of northern and eastern Honduras, across the broad coastal plain of eastern Nicaragua (the Costa de Mosquitos, but excluding the pine savanna of Mosquitia in both Honduras and Nicaragua), throughout northern Costa Rica, and in a narrowing strip down through eastern Costa Rica to the north coast of western Panama around Laguna de Chiriquí. A single record of a restricted-range species extends the EBA west to the Motagua river area of easternmost Guatemala. In Honduras and Nicaragua, the known distributions of the restricted-range species delineate a more discrete area, but this is more likely to reflect observer bias than to be a real biogeographic distinction between the lowland and foothill forests (see below).

Most species occupy tropical forest, forest borders and secondary growth (the exception being Oryzoborus nuttingi), and occur primarily below 1,000 m, some perhaps undertaking seasonal altitudinal migrations.

Just three of the restricted-range species extend the range of the EBA west into Honduras: Carpodectes nitidus occurs east of the Sula valley in western Honduras, Dysithamnus striaticeps is found in and east of the Olancho region of eastern Honduras, and Piprites griseiceps has been recorded once in easternmost Guatemala and once in northern Honduras (Howell and Webb 1995a). However, the species recorded from Guatemala and Honduras (and those within Nicaragua) are known from very few localities, suggesting that the Caribbean slope forests in these countries require further surveys. Piculus callopterus is primarily a bird of the Darién lowlands (EBA 023) east of the Panama Canal, though there is an old record from the Caribbean slope in Veraguas province (Ridgely and Gwynne 1989).

An additional restricted-range species, the Bare-necked Umbrellabird Cephalopterus glabricollis, migrates seasonally into the Caribbean lowland forests of Costa Rica and Panama from its breeding grounds in the Costa Rica and Panama highlands (EBA 020) (Collar et al. 1992, Wege 1993). A number of other highland species may also make such altitudinal movements, although current knowledge is scant. The Escudo Hummingbird Amazilia (tzacatl) handleyi was described as a distinct species (Wetmore 1963), and is probably still best considered as such, but has been excluded here, following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993); if recognized as a full species it should be considered Vulnerable by virtue of its minute range, being endemic to the tiny island of Escudo de Veraguas off Bocas del Toro, Panama (Wetmore 1963). The Panama form hypophaeus of Yellow-throated Bush-tanager Chlorospingus flavigularis (perhaps also best considered a full species) is primarily confined to the Caribbean slope of central and western Panama (thus in this EBA), although it has been recorded in western San Blas, and locally on the Pacific slope (Ridgely and Gwynne 1989). Both the Critically Endangered Honduran Emerald Amazilia luciae (from the dry thorn forests of northern Honduras, Secondary Area s010), and the Nicaraguan Grackle Quiscalus nicaraguensis (from the marshes around Lake Nicaragua, Secondary Area s011) are lone species whose ranges fall outside the boundaries of this EBA, although geographically they are in close proximity. Rufous-winged Woodpecker Piculus simplex occurs throughout the EBA but has a range larger than 50,000 km², and can be found locally on the Pacific slope in western Panama and southern Costa Rica (Ridgely and Gwynne 1989, Stiles and Skutch 1989).

The region as a whole, but especially Costa Rica, has suffered widespread deforestation (Stiles and Skutch 1989), and although Nicaragua's Costa de Mosquitos area has the largest remaining tract of wet forest in Central America (IUCN 1992a), this too is being reduced by continued deforestation (Harcourt and Sayer 1996). Specific and severe threats to the area include banana plantation and cattle ranch expansion, logging, clearance and refugee settlements (in Nicaragua), with exploitation of parrots and other wildlife also a problem (Dinerstein et al. 1995).

None of the restricted-range species is considered to be threatened, although the EBA is extremely important for the widespread threatened Great Green Macaw Ara ambigua (classified as Vulnerable; incorrectly lumped with Military Macaw A. militaris in Collar et al. 1994) and non-breeding populations of the threatened (Vulnerable) Three-wattled Bellbird Procnias tricarunculata and Cephalopterus glabricollis (Collar et al. 1994). The contiguous Braulio Carillo National Park and La Selva Protection Zone has been identified as a Key Area for threatened birds (for C. glabricollis) (Wege and Long 1995).

Other protected areas in the EBA include Pico Bonito National Park and Olancho Forest Reserve (Honduras), Río Indio Maíz Biological Reserve and Bosawas National Natural Resource Reserve (Nicaragua), and Tortuguero National Park/Protection Zone (Costa Rica) (IUCN 1992a).

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Endemic Bird Area factsheet: Central American Caribbean slope. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/eba/factsheet/16 on 23/11/2024.