ABSTRACT. Bird-window collisions are a dramatic cause of bird mortality globally. In Latin America, statistics are generally very scarce and/or inaccessible so the frequency of such incidents is still poorly understood. Nevertheless, civilians have applied preventive methods (e.g. adhesive bird-of-prey decals) sparsely but, to our knowledge, no study has evaluated their effectiveness in Brazil. Here, we estimated the mortality rate of bird-window collisions and tested the effectiveness of bird-of-prey decals at preventing such accidents. We undertook daily searches for bird carcasses, presumably resulting from window collisions, near all buildings on a university campus over seven months. Adhesive bird-of-prey decals were then applied to the two buildings with the highest mortality rates and surveys continued for over 12 more months. The mortality rates before and after the application of decals and between seasons were then compared using Friedman test. We recorded 36 collisions, 29 around the two buildings with the highest collision rates 19 prior and 10 after our intervention with associated collision rates of 0.08 and 0.04 collisions/day. Although mortality was reduced by almost half, this difference was not statistically significant. The Blue-black grassquit, Volatinia jacarina (Linnaeus, 1766), and Ruddy ground dove, Columbina talpacoti (Temminck, 1810) suffered the highest number of collisions, followed by the Rufous-collared sparrow, Zonotrichia capensis (P. L. Statius Müller, 1776). Our bird-of-prey decals and efforts were insufficient to prevent or dramatically reduce the number of bird-window collisions. Therefore, we recommend that different interventions be used and additional longterm studies undertaken on their efficacy.

Many studies in urban landscapes have revealed that vegetation structure influences the taxonomic diversity and traits of birds and drives greater bird richness in greenspaces. However, most of these studies have been carried out mainly in public spaces. Private lands represent large components of cityscapes worldwide, and so understanding the role they play in the maintenance of biodiversity, and how vegetation traits drive the ecological attributes of birds, remain poorly known. Here we identified local factors of vegetation related to the bird fauna of urban private native forest fragments in Sorocaba, state of São Paulo, Brazil, with a focus on their ecological attributes. We predicted that increased vegetation structure would select birds that depend on forest environments and the resources they support. We sampled 13 vegetation traits in 28 private urban native forests to evaluate the relationship between vegetation structure and taxonomic diversity and functional traits of birds. Confirming our prediction, vegetation structure shaped the ecological attributes of birds, with five vegetation traits driving bird taxonomic diversity and functional traits, of which the number of standing dead trees was related to more bird ecological attributes. Vegetation structure in urban private native forest fragments may increase habitats and resources, thus supporting habitat-and feeding-specialist species. Our results provide insights for public policies aimed at management and maintaining vegetation structures that benefit bird fauna (e.g. number of standing dead trees, tree richness, canopy cover), in support of the ecological functions they perform in urban landscapes.

Urbanization creates the most irreversible and human-dominated form of land use, often resulting in species losses and functional homogenization of bird communities. Here we investigate how housing areas in a Neotropical megacity may drive bird species occurrence and functional diversity in high densely habited areas. Using three local scales (radius of 50, 100, and 200 m), we tested how bird species richness, functional groups, and functional diversity indices may be affected by the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI, a proxy for primary productivity) and the cover area (m2) of red clay roofs (RCR, likely urban nesting sites) in São Paulo megacity, Brazil. We recorded 40 bird species, mostly nesting on trees. Few and high abundant (native and exotic) birds may use roofs and other urban structures as nesting sites. The GLM models showed that functional evenness increased with synchronized increases of NDVI 200 m and RCR 200 m covers and decreased with increase of NDVI 50 m. Most of the bird indices were not affected by neither NDVI nor RCR at local scales. However, bird species composition and functional evenness were sensitive to NDVI and RCR. Our findings suggest that synchronized high values of NDVI (vegetation-linked resources) and RCR cover (likelihood of nesting) may improve the regularity of bird functional traits and ecosystem functions (e.g., frugivory and insectivory) in housing areas of a Neotropical megacity.

Simpatizantes do mundo das aves têm crescido numericamente e vêm exercendo, cada vez mais, a prática da observação de aves, também conhecida como “Birdwatching”. O birdwatching é uma atividade de lazer que consiste, na sua forma mais simples, de observar as aves nos ambientes naturais. Essa prática é uma das mais sustentáveis atividades do ecoturismo. No Brasil, existem muitas instituições ligadas à promoção do birdwatching, entre elas os chamados Clubes de Observadores de Aves-COAs. Embora o Brasil possua diversos COAs, ainda temos uma lacuna de conhecimento na literatura sobre como essas instituições atuam na promoção do turismo ecológico de observação de aves. Além disso, carecemos de informações sobre como ocorre a trajetória histórica que leva a formação dos COAs, a dinâmica e tipos de atividades que desenvolvem e os produtos vinculados ao birdwatching que essas instituições produzem. Para preencher essa lacuna de conhecimento, nós buscamos caracterizar um COA a fim de descrever a sua trajetória histórica, as atividades e as dinâmicas desenvolvidas, os produtos de ciência cidadã que produz, bem o seu papel no desenvolvimento do ecoturismo de observação de aves na região. Para alcançar esses objetivos, o COA escolhido foi o Clube de Observadores de Aves de Sorocaba-COAVES, localizado no município de Sorocaba-SP. Esperamos que essa caracterização preencha uma lacuna de conhecimento voltado ao entendimento de como um COA pode promover o ecoturismo de observação de aves, a dinâmica de suas atividades, bem como produção e divulgação de conhecimentos vinculados à biodiversidade local. Utilizamos uma metodologia qualitativa via observações diretas dos autores desse artigo que fazem parte como membros frequentes do clube, e através de conteúdos documentais, como fotos, capítulos de livros, artigos publicados, folders entre outros meios para alcançar os objetivos propostos. Verificamos que o COAVES promove o ecoturismo de birdwatching não apenas no seu município de origem, como nos municípios da região. Identificamos que esse clube possui um papel importante na promoção da Educação Ambiental na comunidade local. Além disso, registramos que o clube produziu, ao longo de sua trajetória, vários produtos relacionados à ciência cidadã, como guias, capítulos de livro, listas oficiais de aves, placas informativas de birdwatching, encartes de jornal entre outros produtos. Assim, por meio desse panorama apresentado, verificamos que os COAs brasileiros, retratados aqui por meio do COAVES, possuem um importante papel social na mediação de conhecimentos e práticas voltados ao meio ambiente e promoção do ecoturismo da região.