Fauna [Flora]

Male Quetzal. Photo/© David Unger.

Fascinating fauna adds to the breathtaking ambience of the cloud forest. Walking quietly along the forest trails and observing the environment attentively, it is common to come across Howler Monkeys (Alouatta pigra) and Quetzals (Pharomachrus mocinno).


The monkeys dwell in groups throughout the forest canopy. Their density is high in Chelemhá and one can observe the monkeys on almost all excursions. Even non-zoologists are impressed by their blood-curdling howling.


The Quetzal is the national bird of Guatemala, however, many Guatemalans have never seen the bird. The Quetzal lives only in remote cloud forests, where it finds the small wild Avocado tree fruit, its main diet. The Quetzal has a key function in the dispersion of this tree species.


The Quetzal’ belongs to the trogon family (Trogonidae) and is one of the most spectacular birds of the continent. Adult males have extremely elongated uppertail coverts, which grow over 60 cm long. During the breeding season, males perform spectacular display flights. They ascend from trees on the ridges with a kwa-kwa kwa-kwa ... call and undulating flight into the sky, before falling like green lightning and disappearing into the canopy. Males and females both incubate the eggs and take care of their young. After the breeding season, Quetzals migrate to lower altitudes.

Sphinx moth Aellopus titan. Size, shape, colors and foraging behavior on flowers make this moth appear very similar to the Black-crested Coquette Lophornis helenae, a small hummingbird. Photo/© Knut Eisermann.

Not only the Quetzal and the Howler monkeys make Chelemhá an interesting and important area. The Mesoamerican cloud forests have been identified as hotspots of biodiversity and centers of endemism (Bibby et al. 1992). Birds like the Black-throated Jay (Cyanolyca pumilo), the Highland Guan (Penelopina nigra), the Green-throated Mountain-gem (Lampornis viridipallens), and the Blue-throated Motmot (Aspatha gularis) live only in mountain ranges of northern Central America. The cloud forest of Chelemhá is home to 14 of these species. It is also refuge to four globally threatened species, listed in the IUCN Red List (Hilton-Taylor 2000): Highland Guan (Penelopina nigra), Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), Pink-headed Warbler (Ergaticus versicolor), Golden-cheeked Warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia), a transient species that winters in Guatemalan pine-oak forests.


These facts can be provided because birds belong to the best researched group of animals world-wide. But how many endemic insects, spiders, worms and snails live in Chelemhá? It is uncertain how many species unknown to science live in the cloud forest? It is known, that different groups of animals and plants show similar patterns of endemism (Bibby et al. 1992). Chelemhá is of invaluable importance for the conservation of world-wide biodiversity. The conservation of this area is a mankind’s responsibility.

References


Bibby, C. J., N. J.Collar, M. J. Crosby, M. F. Heath, C. Imboden, T. H. Johnson, A. J. Long, A. J. Stattersfield, & S. J. Thirgood (1992): Putting biodiversity on the map: priority areas for global conservation. International Council for Bird Preservation, Cambridge, UK.


Hilton-Taylor, C. (2000): IUCN Red List of threatened species. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.