FEEDING ECOLOGY OF A PARROT ASSEMBLAGE IN THE BRAZILIAN CERRADO

In this study, during two years, I documented the feeding habits of a parrot assemblage in response to food resources offer (abundance, nº of food species, and diversity), across a habitat mosaic in the Brazilian Cerrado. In addition, to each parrot species, I compared variations in those parameters across seasons, as well as in the feeding niche breadth. The feeding activity of every parrot species paralleled both food abundance and the number of food species available. In fact, despite fluctuations, food abundance, the number of food species, and diversity exhibited similar values through seasons, suggesting a trend for adequate food supply across the three major habitat types (palm swamp, gallery forest, and the dominant Cerrado vegetation). Excepting Orthopsittaca manilata (foraged only on Mauritia  flexuosa fruit pulp), all other five species (Ara ararauna, Amazona aestiva, Alipiopsitta xanthops, Eupsittula aurea, and Diopsittaca nobilis) showed wide feeding niche breadth. Their broad diets resulted from the opportunist use of a rich collection of seasonal food species. Moreover, they presented diet association according to plant part eaten, in which parrot’s diet displayed a gradient that had an increasingly greater dominance of seeds (A. ararauna, A. aestiva, and A. aurea), to a diet composed mainly by fruit pulp and flowers (A. xanthops, and D. nobilis). The accelerated fragmentation process of the Brazilian Cerrado has been suppressing habitat types in which unpredictable and scattered food patches might be available to parrots. Thus, conservation plans should prioritize the inclusion of habitat mosaics, at least, in the form documented here. As a concern, in the smaller Cerrado remnants, food resources available may be scarce, mainly in terms of the variety and abundance year-round required by parrots

SEEDEATERS AND SEEDS AT A TECOMA SAVANNA IN THE SOUTHERN PANTANAL, BRAZIL

Seedeaters (Sporophila spp.) comprise a rich Neotropical bird group of seed consumers common in open habitats. In this study, we documented the feeding habits of seedeaters and seed production at a Tecoma savanna (dominated by Tabebuia aurea) in southern Pantanal, Brazil. We also analyzed the relationship between seed offer (abundance, richness, and diversity) and the number of seedeaters foraging across seasons. Six species (Sporophila angolensis, S. caerulescens, S. collaris S. hypoxantha, S.leucoptera, and S. lineola) occurred in the savanna, mainly in the height of the wet season, when seed production increased abruptly, attracting seedeaters. Seedeaters used 14 of 16 grass species that produced seeds. Indeed, the number of foraging seedeaters paralleled the abundance and diversity of seeds, and the number of species consumed. During much of the dry season, when seeds were not produced, the few remaining seedeaters mostly consumed arthropods and flowers. The diet of seedeaters ranged from mostly seeds (S. angolensis) to a moderate proportion of flowers and arthropods (S. leucoptera). The offer of a rich set of seeds attractive to seedeaters indicates that the Tecoma savanna is a seasonally important habitat for these birds. Of concern, large areas of native grasses in the Pantanal have recently been transformed into exotic pastures, and extensive fires have become common. Thus, conservation of this singular area is important for seedeaters, which move over wide areas searching for an abundant and diverse seed supply

Disponibilidade de alimento e abundância de Ortalis canicollis durante a estação seca em matas no Pantanal Sul, Brasil

Frugivorous birds may respond to the seasonal variation of food resources either by temporarily changing their diet and/or by moving between areas with different spatial-temporal fruit availability. The Pantanal is a highly suitable ecosystem for evaluating both of these strategies, due to the seasonal availability of plant food resources in sites such as forest patches and gallery forest. In the present study, we investigated the abundance and the feeding habits of Ortalis canicollis (Wagler, 1830) during the dry season in two habitat types in the Southern Pantanal. The study was carried out between April and November 2002. We sampled the availability of fruits and flowers of nine tree species (149 individuals). The monthly abundance of O. canicollis was evaluated by means of an abundance index (15 points per environment), and food consumption was recorded through direct observation. In both environments, flowers were more abundant from the middle to end of the dry season. However, in the gallery forest fruits predominated from the beginning to the middle of the dry season, while they were often produced in the forest patches during the dry season. In both areas, O. canicollis occurred throughout the entire study. The local variations of O. canicollis abundance potentially resulted from the availability of their food resources because oscillations in O. canicollis food resources use overlapped both the fruiting and flowering patterns in both sites. The generalist feeding habits of O. canicollis, at least in part, may explain their persistence in forest habitats of southern Pantanal in the harshest period of the year.Key words: Chaco chachalaca, birds, cracidae, phenology, frugivory.Aves frugívoras podem responder à sazonalidade do recurso alimentar alterando sua dieta e/ou se deslocando entre áreas com diferentes disponibilidades espaço-temporais do recurso. Essa resposta pode ser bem avaliada no Pantanal, onde ocorrem ambientes que se diferenciam quanto à disponibilidade sazonal de recursos vegetais (e.g. matas ciliares e capões de mata). Neste estudo, avaliamos a variação na abundância de Ortalis canicollis (Wagler, 1830) e o consumo de flores e frutos durante o período de maior escassez de alimento (estação seca) em dois ambientes do Pantanal Sul. Desenvolvemos este estudo em áreas de mata ciliar e de capões entre abril e novembro de 2002. Amostramos a disponibilidade de frutos e flores em nove espécies arbóreas (149 indivíduos). Avaliamos a abundância mensal de O. canicollis através do índice pontual de abundância (15 pontos por ambiente) e registramos o consumo de frutos e flores através de observação direta. Flores foram mais abundantes entre o meio e o fim da estação seca nos dois ambientes, enquanto frutos predominaram entre o início e o meio da seca na mata ciliar, porém, a oferta foi praticamente constante em capões. As variações na abundância local de O. canicollis, em princípio, ocorreram em resposta à oferta de flores e/ou frutos, uma vez que, em certa extensão, as flutuações tanto na abundância quanto na intensidade de consumo de recurso alimentar pela ave coincidiram com picos de produção de frutos e flores. Os hábitos alimentares generalistas de O. canicollis, pelo menos em parte, explicam sua permanência nos ambientes florestais do Pantanal sul no período mais rigoroso do ano.Palavras-chave: Aracuã, aves, cracidae, fenologia, frugivoria

Checklist of the birds of Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil: diversity and conservation

Several phytogeographic regions (Cerrado, Pantanal, Atlantic Forest, Gran Chaco, and Chiquitano Dry Forests) converge in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, and influence regional biodiversity. Despite a list of birds in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul being published by Nunes et al. (2017), it is necessary to update and critically review avifauna records. In this study, we gathered the results of several records obtained from species lists and online data platforms of the 336 sites in this state over the last decades and grouped them into Main (Primary and Secondary) and Tertiary Lists. The avifauna of Mato Grosso do Sul is composed of 678 species, of which 643 (95%) have records proving their occurrence (Primary List), whereas 34 still lack documentation (Secondary List). The number of related species for Mato Grosso do Sul represents 34% of the Brazilian avifauna. Some species stand out for their unique occurrence in Mato Grosso do Sul, such as Melanerpes cactorum, Celeus lugubris, Phaethornis subochraceus, and Cantorchilus guarayanus, reflecting the influence of different phytogeographic regions of the Chaco and Chiquitano Dry Forests. Migrants represent 20% of the bird community occurring in the state, of which 93 species correspond to migrants from various regions of South America (south and west) and 40 to boreal migrants. Thirty-three species perform nomadic movements across the Pantanal Plain and other regions of the state. Thirty-one species are included in some conservation-threatened categories of global and/or national endangered species lists. Other 30 species are included in the near-threatened category at the global level and 23 at the national level. In addition, species typical of dry forests (in Serra da Bodoquena and Maciço do Urucum) and those from the Atlantic Forest in the south of the state deserve attention due to their restricted distribution and the high anthropogenic pressure on their habitat

Checklist of the birds of Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil: diversity and conservation

Several phytogeographic regions (Cerrado, Pantanal, Atlantic Forest, Gran Chaco, and Chiquitano Dry Forests) converge in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, and influence regional biodiversity. Despite a list of birds in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul being published by Nunes et al. (2017), it is necessary to update and critically review avifauna records. In this study, we gathered the results of several records obtained from species lists and online data platforms of the 336 sites in this state over the last decades and grouped them into Main (Primary and Secondary) and Tertiary Lists. The avifauna of Mato Grosso do Sul is composed of 678 species, of which 643 (95%) have records proving their occurrence (Primary List), whereas 34 still lack documentation (Secondary List). The number of related species for Mato Grosso do Sul represents 34% of the Brazilian avifauna. Some species stand out for their unique occurrence in Mato Grosso do Sul, such as Melanerpes cactorum, Celeus lugubris, Phaethornis subochraceus, and Cantorchilus guarayanus, reflecting the influence of different phytogeographic regions of the Chaco and Chiquitano Dry Forests. Migrants represent 20% of the bird community occurring in the state, of which 93 species correspond to migrants from various regions of South America (south and west) and 40 to boreal migrants. Thirty-three species perform nomadic movements across the Pantanal Plain and other regions of the state. Thirty-one species are included in some conservation-threatened categories of global and/or national endangered species lists. Other 30 species are included in the near-threatened category at the global level and 23 at the national level. In addition, species typical of dry forests (in Serra da Bodoquena and Maciço do Urucum) and those from the Atlantic Forest in the south of the state deserve attention due to their restricted distribution and the high anthropogenic pressure on their habitat