The Guácharo Cave National Park () is located from the town of Caripe,

Monagas Monagas State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Monagas State covers a total surface area of and, as of the 2011 census, had a population of 905,443. Monagas State is surrounded by Sucre State in the north, Anzoátegui State in the ...

, Venezuela. It has as its centerpiece a large limestone cave. The cave was visited in 1799 by

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...

, who realised that the thousands of oilbirds ( in Spanish; scientific name '' Steatornis caripensis'') which live in the cave belonged to a species unknown to science. Humboldt named the frugivorous, nocturnal species after the town of Caripe.

The cave

The cave is a limestone cavern over long, with a number of large chambers and spectacular rock formations. The temperature inside the cave generally remains near and the humidity at 100%.

Guácharo bird

Oilbirds are fruit-eating birds that live within the first section of the cave; they leave at night in search of food. The Spanish name is onomatopoeic, and comes from an old Castilian word for one who shrieks or cries, because of their characteristic sound. They are brown with black and white spots, have a long tail and bristles around their beak. They measure around in length, including the tail. The produce an organic layer in the cave called

guano Guano (Spanish from ) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertiliser due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a le ...

, formed by excrement and vomited seeds, which provide the basic nutrients for the cave's ecosystem. The most important daily event in the park occurs in the evening, as dusk falls, when the birds exit the cave in great flocks, in search of food. Visitors are able to view the birds leaving the cave.

Conservation

The cave was designated as Venezuela's first

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

in 1949. The National Park was created in 1975 to conserve the cave and the forest ecosystem where the oilbirds feed. The altitude of the national park is . There are 367 species of bird in the national park, which has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA). Although the oilbird is not an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

, several other resident birds fall into this category, for example the Venezuelan flowerpiercer (''Diglossa venezuelensis'') and the Venezuelan sylph. The national park is part of Cordillera de Caripe

Alliance for Zero Extinction Formed in 2000 and launched globally in 2005, the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) comprises 100 non-governmental biodiversity conservation organizations working to prevent species extinctions by identifying and safeguarding sites where species ...

(AZE) site, along with another IBA, the .

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

(2015). datazone/sitefactsheet.php?id=14938 Important Bird Areas factsheet: Parque Nacional El Guácharo (part of Cordillera de Caripe AZE) Downloaded from on 25/08/2015

Humboldt Museum

Near to the cave entrance is the Humboldt Museum.The Natural History Museum of Berlin, in Germany, has been popularly known for 60 years as the "Humboldt Museum" (from 1949 to 2009). This other Museum in Venezuela has nothing to do with the German museum located in Berlin. It offers information about the cave, the national park, the oilbird (), and Alexander von Humboldt.

Notes

References

External links

Guácharo Cave spelunking site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cueva Del Guacharo National Park National parks of Venezuela Birdwatching sites in Venezuela Important Bird Areas of Venezuela Caves of Venezuela Protected areas established in 1949 Geography of Monagas Natural monuments of Venezuela Tourist attractions in Monagas