Screamers: Conservation

Summary: Are Screamers in need of conservation? Join Kiersten to find out!

 

For my hearing impaired followers, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean

 

Show Notes:

Screamers: https://animaldiversity.org

Data Zone by Bird Life: https://datazone.birdlife.org

IUCN Red List: https://www.iucnredlist.org

American Bird Conservancy: https://abcbirds.org/bird/southern-screamer/

Asociacion Armonia: https://armoniabolivia.org

Music written and performed by Katherine Camp

 

Transcript

(Piano music plays)

Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.

(Piano music stops)

Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I’m Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 

This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.

This is the final episode of Screamers and we’ll be talking about conservation. Like everything else with Screamers this episode will have a few twists. The tenth thing I like about Screamers is conservation.

Each species has a story of it’s own, so we’ll take them one by one. Let’s start off with the Southern Screamer.

Southern Screamer, Chauna torquata, also known as the Crested Screamer is found from the eastern half of Bolivia south into Argentina as far as Buenos Ares Province and east through Paraguay into south western Brazil and Uruguay. The conservation status of the Southern Screamer is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources as Least Concern. This means that Southern Screamer population numbers are steady or increasing. Their population trend is listed as stable with adult individuals estimated between 66,700 to 667,000 individuals. The last time this species was assessed was in 2024.

This species of Screamer is impacted by habitat loss. As wild lands are drained and deforested to create more land for cattle ranching and farming, Southern Screamers lose vital habitat, but a 27,000 acre reserve created in 2008 by Asociacion Armonia to protect the Blue-throated Macaw had the added bonus of offering protected habitat to the Southern Screamer. Barba Azul Nature Reserve protects 250 species of birds and is an important stop over for migratory shorebirds. 

If you are interested in seeing the Southern Screamer at the reserve you can book a conservation birding trip through American Bird Conservancy. All fees support the reserve and American Bird Conservancy’s mission for protecting wild spaces for birds.

Now there are other things keeping the Southern Screamer protected, this is the twist for this species, ranchers and farmers actually like having Southern Screamer nearby as they are excellent guard birds and raise the alarm when any predators come near. Sometimes people sneak a young Screamer away from the parents and keep them on their property for exactly that reason. 

Southern Screamers have also been seen eating invasive plants species, such as white clover, which means they are helping their own conservation efforts. 

The Northern Screamer, Chauna chavaria, also known as the Black-necked Screamer is in a similar situation as the Southern Screamer. This Screamer is found across northern Columbia from the Atrato River and Magdalena River valleys east into the Lake Maracaibo area of Venezuela. They are also under pressure from habitat destruction for ranching and agricultural use.

As of the latest surveys in 2023, the Northern Screamer is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN. Their population is stable with 60,000 to 130,000 mature adults. Locally, in Columbia and Venezuela, they are listed as Vulnerable. Conservation efforts in these countries include educational campaigns bringing awareness to Northern Screamers and their importance in the local environment. Several preserves have also been established to help protect the wetland areas that these birds rely upon.

Other threats to the Northern Screamer include egg collection by humans for use as food and collection of young for the local pet trade. 

The last species of Screamer, the Horned Screamer, Anhima cornuta, is found in the Amazonian regions of Venezuela, to the eastern llanos of Columbia, to eastern Bolivia and south-central Brazil. Their latest assessment by the IUCN was in July of 2024 and they are currently listed as Least Concern with a stable mature adult population estimated between 16,700 to 66,700. There are not many conservation efforts in the region specifically aimed at the Horned Screamer, but there are established conservation sites throughout their range to prevent more wetlands from being drained for ranching needs. 

The subcutaneous air sacs found in all three species of Screamer keep these birds from being on the menu internationally, but locally some people do hunt them for food. It is probably an acquired taste and you need to know how to prepare the meat just right to make it palatable. 

It is nice to report on species that are still thriving in our ever changing world and I am glad to know that local conservation effort exists for all three species on Screamers.

Thank you so much for joining me for another series of Ten Things I Like About… I learned a lot about the Screamer as I wrote this series and I hope you learned a lot by listening. My tenth favorite thing about Screamers is conservation.

If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change. 

I will be taking a bit of a break at the beginning of summer, so join me again in July for a brand new series on an unknown or misunderstood creature. 

    

(Piano Music plays) 

This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.