Avifauna silvestre como recurso alimentar em áreas de semiárido no estado do Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil

Abstract

The present workwas undertaken with the cooperation of locals in the municipalities of Caicó and São João do Sabugi in the semi-arid regionof Rio Grande do Norte State, northeastern Brazil. We listed the wild birds used as sources of food in the region anddescribed the techniques used to capture them. Field work was carried out between January and February of 2010, duringwhich a total of 60 locals, that used or interacted with wild birds in some way, were interviewed. Information was obtainedthrough semi-structured interviews from each individual. A total of 13 wild bird species, distributed among six orders andsix families, were identified; the Columbidae family was the best represented in terms of the numbers of species. Zenaidaauriculata was cited most. The birds were captured using five techniques: “arapuca” (a non-lethal fall-trap), “espera”(waiting in a blind), “sangra” (a non-lethal fall-trap), “fôjo” (dead-fall), and “rede” (netting); ‘Waiting in a blind’ was thetechnique most cited. The use of wild birds as sources of food, together with the general lack of population studies ofhunting species is associated with other environmental problems that can be expected to directly or indirectly affect theirpopulations. In this context, more studies should be undertaken focusing on these issues, because only then will it bepossible to implement adequate wildlife management and conservation programs that can be linked to the socio-culturalcontext of the region.