Avian biogeography in the islands of the Pacific coast of western Panama
Abstract
Distributional data on birds from the smaller islands of the Pacific coast of western Panama, here termed the Veragua Archipelago, are compiled from documents and specimens collected by Alexander Wetmore. The combined avifauna of these islands is mostly a very depauperate subset of that known from much larger Isla Coiba. The few species from the smaller islands that have not been recorded from Coiba are mainly open-country birds that may be recent colonists. A few species show geographic variation among the islands, the most interesting being two of the distinctive endemic subspecies of Isla Coiba that also occur on Isla Brincanco. Several anomalous distributional patterns are identified.