Summary
The study examined Rainforest Alliance certified coffee plantations in southwestern El Salvador for their bird-friendliness. The following three questions were asked: Do disperse forest-specialist birds prefer RA certified coffee plantations as movement corridors more than other habitats? Do forest-generalist birds have a better chance of survival and higher breeding rates in RA certified coffee plantations than in other habitats? To elaborate these questions 5,652 birds were captured across 50 sites for 24 months. The study found that for the first question, forest-specialist birds showed similar interest in the different habitats except for farmland which had significantly fewer dispersers. Regarding the second question, research showed that survivorship likelihood as detection probability was similar across the different habitats. However, the proportion of breeding individuals was significantly lower on RA certified coffee farms. Migratory birds had higher survivorship and site fidelity than other coffee farms.