Geophagy in two parrot species in southern Pantanal, Brazil

Abstract

Geophagy is a habit recorded for parrots, which seek earthy or soil-like substances presumably to help them in digestive functions, whether mechanical or chemical ones. Few studies are devoted to this feeding peculiarity in the Pantanal region. Here are reported two events of geophagy, for the Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) and the Nanday Parakeet (Aratinga nenday) in the Pantanal subregions of the Miranda-Abobral and Nhecolândia, Mato Grosso do Sul, respectively. Keywords: geophagy, Pantanal, psittacines, parrots, wetland, feeding ecology.SEVERO-NETO, F. Geofagia em duas espécies de psitacídeos no Pantanal Sul, Brasil. Biota Neotrop. 12(2): http://www.biotaneotropica.org.br/v12n2/pt/abstract?short-communication+bn00612022012Resumo: A geofagia é um hábito conhecido em psitacídeos, que se alimentam de terra ou argila supostamente por ajudar em funções digestivas, sejam mecânicas ou químicas. Poucos estudos são dedicados a essa peculiaridade alimentar na região do Pantanal. É feito aqui o registro de dois eventos de geofagia, para a arara-canindé (Ara ararauna) e o periquito-de-cabeça-preta (Aratinga nenday) nas sub-regiões pantaneiras da Nhecolândia e Miranda-Abobral, Mato Grosso do Sul, respectivamente. Palavras-chave: geofagia, Pantanal, psittacidae, araras, área úmida, ecologia alimentar.

Food availability and breeding season as predictors of geophagy in Amazonian parrots

“…Despite its elegance and broad appeal, recent studies have found little support for the toxin-protection theory (Lee et al 2009). However, the studies undertaken to date have not been able definitively to rule out toxin protection as a possible explanation for geophagy (Brightsmith et al 2008) and the theory is commonly invoked in scientific and popular discussions of geophagy for a broad array of taxa from across the globe (Severo-Neto 2012, Costa-Pereira et al 2015, Angier 2016, Bradbury & Balsby 2016.…”

A REVIEW OF CASES OF GEOPHAGY IN CORVIDS (AVES: CORVIDAE) AND A NEW REPORT OF GEOPHAGY IN AZURE JAY (Cyanocorax caeruleus)

“…In birds, geophagy has been widely reported in families such as Psittacidae (Diamond et al 1999, Brigthsmith & Muñoz-Najar 2004, Severo-Neto 2012, Costa-Pereira et al 2015, Dornas et al 2016 and Columbidae (Brigthsmith & Muñoz-Najar 2004, Symes et al 2005, Downs 2006), but not as much for other families, such as Cracidae (Brigthsmith & Muñoz-Najar 2004), Corvidae (Diamond et al 1999) and others (see also Gionfriddo & Best 1999). For the family Corvidae (Aves: Passeriformes), which includes 130 species distributed worldwide (dos Anjos & Bonan 2019), records of soil ingestion are particularly scarce and scattered in the literature.…”