The study of avian nesting biology in North America and Europe has a long history, resulting in an expansive and information‐rich literature. In contrast, the tropics have been relatively neglected and, in most ways, we are still at the frontier of exploration. Data about basic nest descriptions and natural history information are still lacking for many Neotropical species; standardization of data collection methods is needed for comparative analyses. Hence, our goals are: (1) motivate a new generation of Neotropical naturalists to collect nesting data by providing basic tips on how to find nests and collect basic data, (2) provide guidelines on how to use and analyze basic data, (3) highlight the importance of collections, (4) describe modern monitoring techniques, and (5) suggest how these data can be used to fill important gaps concerning the breeding biology of tropical birds. Understanding avian nesting biology and the biotic and abiotic factors that influence nesting success is crucial for a better understanding of bird population dynamics and breeding strategies at the community level, and can form the basis for the development of sound conservation measures.
Body mass is one of the most important phenotypic attributes in animal ecology and life history. This trait is widely used in the fields of ecology and macroevolution, since it influences physiology, morphological functions, and a myriad of ecological and social interactions. In this data set, our aim was to gather a comprehensive bird and mammal body mass data set from northern South America. We report body mass, discriminated by sex, for 42,022 individual birds and 7,441 mammals representing 1,317 bird species (69% of Colombia’s avifauna) and 270 mammal species (51% of Colombian mammals) from the Neotropics. The data were sourced from vouchers collected between 1942 and 2020 and from individuals captured and released at banding stations over the last two decades for birds (2000–2020) and the last decade for mammals (2010–2020), by 10 research groups and institutions in Colombia. This data set fills gaps identified in other similar databases, as it focuses on northern South America, a highly diverse Neotropical region often underrepresented in morphological data sets. We provide wide taxonomic coverage for studies interested in information both at regional and local scales. There are no copyright restrictions; the present data paper should be appropriately cited when data are used for publication. The authors would appreciate learning about research projects, teaching exercises, and other uses given to this data set and are open to contribute in further collaborations using these data.
Tropical montane communities host the world's highest beta diversity of birds, a phenomenon usually attributed to community turnover caused by changes in biotic and abiotic factors along elevation gradients. Yet, empirical data on most biotic factors are lacking. Nest predation is thought to be especially important because it appears to be common and can change selective pressures underlying life history traits, which can alter competitive interactions. We monitored 2538 nests, 338 of which had known nest predators, to evaluate if nest predation changes along a tropical elevational gradient. We found that nest predation decreased with elevation, reflecting the loss of lowland predators that do not tolerate colder climates. We found different "super" nest predators at each elevation that accounted for a high percentage of events, suggesting that selection pressures exerted by nest predator communities may be less diffuse than has been hypothesized, at least for birds nesting in the understory.
Brood parasitism is an uncommon and understudied strategy in Amazonian bird communities, within which only 5 species are known to be brood parasites. We present data on the brood-parasitic behavior of the Pavonine Cuckoo (Dromococcyx pavoninus) in 3 host species of small-bodied flycatchers in the Peruvian Amazon that construct hanging globular nests with side entrances. During the 7 yr of the study, we encountered 74 nests of these 3 hosts, but parasitism occurred only in 9 nests (12.2%) in 2 yr. Only 1 Pavonine Cuckoo egg was deposited in each host nest (n = 7), and eggs were markedly dissimilar in size and coloration between hosts and parasite. Incubation investment per day was slightly higher (4%) for 1 parasitized nest than for nonparasitized nests. Overall, 33% of parasitic eggs (n = 6) hatched; cuckoo nestlings apparently removed host eggs and killed host nestlings. The nestling period lasted 24 days, and the growth-rate constant based on nestling mass (k = 0.23) was slower for parasite nestlings than for their hosts (k = 0.27 and 0.31). Food provisioning rates were greater in 1 parasitized nest (2.1 ± 0.7 feedings hr-1 nestling-1) than in nonparasitized nests (1.1 ± 0.4). Nestling cuckoos may further mimic the plumage of their host nestlings. Our results suggest that Pavonine Cuckoos negatively affect their hosts' breeding success and are engaged in a coevolutionary arms race with hosts that have defenses against parasitism. © 2017 American Ornithologists' Union
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