Raptor Visitation to Natural and Artificial Water Sources in a Tropical Forest in Southern Mexico Available to Purchase

Wildlife rely on water sources to meet their metabolic needs. As climate change alters precipitation patterns and increases temperatures, it is important to establish baseline data for the visits of key species to natural and artificial water sources to inform management planning. In this study, we compared the visit rates, species composition, and dissimilarity of raptors visiting natural and artificial water sources in Calakmul, Mexico. We set up cameras at 10 waterholes (locally called aguadas), 10 cavities in smaller rocks (sartenejas), and 10 artificial drinking troughs. We collected 4308 photographs documenting 13 resident species (primarily Accipitriformes [eight species]) visiting these water sources. Ten species visiting water sources are classified as globally declining. Natural water sources, which included waterholes and sartenejas, each attracted visits from nine species, while drinking troughs were frequented by seven species. We found a high species composition dissimilarity between sartenejas and drinking troughs (54%), followed by an intermediate dissimilarity between waterholes and sartenejas (50%), and the lowest dissimilarity between waterholes and drinking troughs (40%). Species turnover primarily caused the dissimilarity between waterholes and sartenejas, accounting for 20%. We found a high turnover between waterholes and drinking troughs (36%). Daily maximum air temperatures and the presence of drinking troughs were the best predictors of the number of raptor visits to water sources. As maximum temperature increased, visits by raptors to drinking troughs increased 4.5-fold and visits to sartenejas increased 4-fold. This study underscores the importance of conserving natural water bodies and the significance of drinking water management to support the presence of raptors in Calakmul.