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We used a distance-sampling survey method and multivariate statistics to obtain a unique estimate of bird species density and seasonal variation in shade-coffee plantations. Our aim was to determine which cultivation practices among plantations contribute most to bird abundance. We conducted avian species counts at 200 points distributed across 10 shade-coffee plantations bordering the lower slopes of the Mombacho Volcano Natural Reserve, in western Nicaragua. We measured vegetation structure (coffee plants and overstory). We used principal components analysis (PCA) among 14 habitat variables to derive a single phyto-geoclimate summary measure (PGSM). We also used PCA to derive an avian abundance summary measure (AASM) from three bird survey variables, which proved to be a good predictor of bird density. We found higher bird species densities (AASM) in organic and traditional polyculture shade coffee plantations whose structurally complex and diverse overstory could be verified by PGSM. However, this finding was true only for birds that were habitat specialists. Our results provide further evidence for promoting organic coffee cultivation practices that maintain a structurally diverse overstory and help retain avian species richness and abundance in coffee plantations.

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Se comenta la base de datos sobre aves de Nicaragua alojada en UCLA-Dickey Bird and Mammal Collections, Los Ángeles, California, haciendo antes una relación histórica de las expediciones zoológicas a Nicaragua. La antigüedad de las mismas se fija en 1830 en la región del Pacífico en El Realejo, Chinandega. Los datos característicos de la colección sobre Nicaragua en UCLA se presentan por región natural del país, colector y antigüedad. De los 2,450 registros en UCLA, 1,277 son de la región del Caribe, 626 del Pacífico y 547 de la región Central o escudo central montañoso. En la colección son escasos los registros de grandes rapaces como águila arpía, no así de paserinos y demás grupos