Grass Wrens Cistothorus platensis build two types of non‐breeding nest structures: platforms and dummy nests. Platforms are rudimentary accumulations of grasses concealed between vegetation. Dummy and breeding nests are dome‐shaped with a similar structural layer. We used a nest‐removal experiment and observational data to evaluate several hypotheses regarding the adaptive significance of building multiple nests in a south temperate population of Grass Wrens. Building non‐breeding nests was not a strategy of males to attract additional females, as most of these nests were built after pair formation and both sexes collaborated during building. Building non‐breeding nests was not a post‐pairing display as the presence of multiple nests did not increase female investment in the breeding attempt: clutch size and female provisioning to nestlings did not differ between experimental and control territories where no non‐breeding nests were removed. Similarly, in non‐manipulated territories, clutch size and female provisioning were not correlated with the number of non‐breeding nests or with males’ nest‐building effort. Contrary to this hypothesis, the number of non‐breeding nests was associated with delayed clutch initiation and reduced hatching success. The presence of non‐breeding nests did not reduce nest predation and brood parasitism, which did not differ between experimental and control territories. We did not detect differences in concealment between non‐breeding and breeding nests, suggesting that non‐breeding nests were not the result of abandonment before egg‐laying to reduce subsequent nest predation. Dummy nests did not provide shelter; they were not used frequently for roosting over the breeding season and were not maintained during the non‐breeding season. We suggest that building non‐breeding nests may be an attempt by males to manipulate the decision of females to breed with a mate they might otherwise reject or to start reproduction earlier than optimal for the females.
La cotinga cariblanca Zaratornis stresemanni (Koepcke, 1954) (Aves: Cotingidae) es un ave endémica del Perú especialista de bosques de Polylepis. Actualmente se encuentra amenazada por la pérdida y degradación de su hábitat. En esta nota reportamos dos registros documentados al noroeste del departamento de Arequipa, en el sur de Perú, los cuales amplían en al menos 130 km su rango de distribución austral y corresponden a los primeros registros documentados de la especie para el departamento de Arequipa. Se sugiere que la cotinga cariblanca residiría en los bosques de Polylepis en el noroeste de Arequipa.
Few studies have investigated the role of raptors as natural reservoirs of Chlamydiaceae spp. and the preferred anatomical sites where these bacteria can be detected in non-symptomatic wild birds. We investigated the occurrence of Chlamydiaceae in 54 non-symptomatic adult free-living birds belonging to 14 species sampled upon reception in a raptor rehabilitation centre in Spain, and ten juvenile birds from five species born and reared in the centre for subsequent release into the wild. Swabs from conjunctivae, choanae and cloacae were taken to detect Chlamydiaceae DNA by a family-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and a nested genus-and species-specific PCR. Chlamydiaceae DNA was detected in adult raptors belonging to 12 species (85.7%), mainly in conjunctival (40.6%) and, to a lesser extent, choanal (17.2%) swabs, but never in cloacal samples. Neither the genus nor the species of Chlamydiaceae could be confirmed by the nested PCR assay. Our results suggest that most of the raptor species investigated, especially the Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) and Eurasian Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus), can be natural reservoirs of Chlamydiaceae spp. in the wild. Failure to identify the organisms at genus and species level might have been due to the poor quality and low concentration of DNA in the samples or to the presence of hitherto unclassified Chlamydiaceae species.
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