SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 
621 
“Inner nest temperature 
l 16 
8 M 
% 0000 0300 0600 0900 1200 1500 
O 
a 
5 44 
2,00 0000 0000 0300 0600 0900 1200 . 500 . 800 2.00 0000 
: (D) 
FIG.Incubation patterns of the Fulvous-breasted Flatbill during 24 to. and different days in twonests: (A) day 7, (B) 
% 12, and (C) day 24 of incubation of the first nest, and (D) last day of the incubation per.od of the second nest. 
Nestling mass decreased to 27.85 g after day 17, 
where it remained until the last measurement (day 
29). when the nestling was completely covered 
with feathers and active. Recently hatched 
nestlings (day 1) had a tarsus length of 8 mm 
and a wing length of 7 mm (w = 3). and grew at a 
rate of 0.7 and 2.9 mm/day. respectively, reaching 
a length of 22 and 64 mm on day 29. 
The average body temperature of nestlings 
during the first 16 days was 31.6 C (27.88- 
33.63 C), and body temperature decreased 4.08 
C in 3 min after nestlings were removed from the 
nest. The change in body temperature at ter day 17 
was smaller (between 1 and 2 C) and, for the last 
2 days (28 and 29). the nestling was able to 
regulate its body temperature at 37.34 C 
I Fig. 2B). We left the sensor in one nest after 
one of the eggs hatched, and quantified 29 trips/ 
day. which is 14 trips higher than the maximum 
number during incubation. The presumed female 
had short incubation bouts (<7 min) and variable 
foraging bouts between 10 and 45 min after 
hatching of young. 
We conducted direct provisioning observations 
at the first nest when the nestlings were 4 and 
7 days age from 1645 to 1745 and 0837 to 0937 
hrs. respectively. We only observed one parent 
visiting the nest per provisioning trip, but cannot 
be sure that only one parent fed the nestlings. The 
parent made four and three trips/hr. respectively, 
and stayed inside the nest for 5 min on average 
during each provisioning trip. We could not 
document the prey type brought by the parent to 
the nest or where the parent was foraging. 
DISCUSSION 
The eggs and nests in our study were similar to 
those previously reported for this species 
(Greeney et al. 2004. Brumfield and Maillard 
2007). The incubation period was long compared 
to other neotropical passerine birds (Tieleman et 
al. 2004: Auer et al. 2007; Martin et al. 2007, 
