Bats as predators at the nests of tropical forest birds

Abstract

Nest predation is one of the main causes of bird mortality, and the development of nest anti-predatory defenses can mold many aspects of bird evolution. Here we report that bats can attack nests in incubation and nestling stages in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil. Although other types of interactions between birds and bats have been reported, including predation of adult individuals and the co-occurrence in cavity nests, bats may have been underestimated as nest predators. The combination of flying and olfactory skills makes bats functionally different compared to other predators, opening new perspectives on the interpretation of nesting-birds anti-predatory strategies. They represented 8% of all recorded potential predations in the bird community studied, being more important than reptiles, and were responsible for 33% of nest losses for at least one bird species. Our data suggest the potential for nest depredation by bats to be an important selective factor in shaping anti-predatory strategies of nesting birds. Then, the use of devices capable to detect bats will be essential for reliable interpretations of birds nest defense mechanisms in future works.

We eat meat: a review of carnivory in bats

“…Vehrencamp et al 1977, Medellín 1988, Table 1). However, both may also raid birds’ nests (Vehrencamp et al 1977, Perrella et al 2020), Vampyrum spectrum might hunt other bats on the wing (Bonaccorso 1975), and Chrotopterus auritus occasionally hunts other bats in their roosts (Nogueira et al 2006). Trachops cirrhosus aggregates around water bodies, performing typical perch hunting and continuous flights with swoops for prey (Kalko et al 1999).…”

“…, Witt & Fabián 2010, Vernier & Vedovato 2011, Fukui et al 2013, Jones et al 2013, Smirnov & Vekhnik 2013, Surlykke et al 2013, Halfwerk et al 2014, Kaliraj 2014, Smarsh & Smotherman 2015, Ibáñez et al 2016, Ripperger et al 2016, Jones et al 2017, Smarsh & Smotherman 2017, Brewton et al 2018, Czaplewski et al 2018, Vargas-Mena et al 2018, Vleut et al 2019, Carvalho et al 2020, Jones et al 2020, Page & Bernal 2020, Perrella et al 2020 …”

The influence of egg presence and eggshell colour in the attraction of visually oriented predators to nests of a tropical forest bird

“…(2018) and Perrella et al . (2020). Predation was considered when animals were filmed removing or biting at least one of the eggs in a nest, and for the empty nests, animals closely checking nest interior were classified as potential predators.…”

“…Cameras were positioned 1-3 m from each nest, depending on the availability of natural supports and were programmed to record 30-s videos whenever they were motion-activated. For further details on the use of camera traps for the identification of nest predators in the study area, see Ribeiro-Silva et al (2018) and Perrella et al (2020). Predation was considered when animals were filmed removing or biting at least one of the eggs in a nest, and for the empty nests, animals closely checking nest interior were classified as potential predators.…”

Methods for collecting data about the breeding biology of Neotropical birds

“…As we highlighted before, there is a need to fill gaps regarding basic descriptions of nests, eggs, and nestling for a vast number of Neotropical birds. We expect that detailed and long-term studies will provide insight into unknown behaviors, such as nestlings imitating toxic caterpillars (Londoño et al 2015) and bats being nest predators (Perrella et al 2020). The basic and detailed data that we encourage you to collect can be the first opportunity for a student or young researcher to be published, but, more importantly, these data can be used to increase our knowledge of life history theory.…”