Breeding biology of Tyrannus melancholicus (Aves: Tyrannidae) in a restinga reserve of southeastern Brazil

By

Daros, Hermes
Dutra, William Barbosa
Duca, Charles

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2018-3-14

Original Publication

MycoKeys

Volume

35

Pages

1--10

Subjects

Atlantic forest , Breeding season , clutch size , life history , Tropical Kingbird

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers 2011-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zoologia.35.e24569

 

Abstract

Existing knowledge of the breeding success and life history characteristics of most Neotropical bird species is scarce. Here, we help fill this gap by analyzing aspects of the breeding biology of the Tropical KingbirdTyrannusmelancholicus(Vieillot, 1819), which is a good model for this kind of study as it is a common species occurring in various environments, including urban areas, but little is known about its life history. We provide results concerning the breeding period, clutch size, incubation and nestling periods, description of nests, eggs and nestlings, and the plants used for nest sites by this species. Fifty-four nests were monitored over two seasons (2012–2014) in a protected area in southeastern Brazil. Nesting began at the end of the dry season and the beginning of the rainy season. The frequency of active nests varied according to variations in rainfall for each breeding season analyzed. The means and standard deviations of the incubation period (14.2 ± 1.9 days), nestling period (15.1 ± 0.8 days) and clutch size (2.5 ± 0.7 eggs) were similar to values reported for other Neotropical passerines. Twenty-one plant species used as nest trees and for the construction of the nests were identified. The results show thatT.melancholicusis not highly selective when choosing plant species used for nest construction.