Breeding Biology Research and Data Availability for New World Flycatchers

Abstract

Life-history strategies of Neotropical birds differ markedly from their Nearctic counterparts, yet the lack of detailed information on most Neotropical species hinders meaningful comparisons. We performed a gap analysis with several basic life-history traits of New World flycatchers of the subfamily Fluvicolinae. We found breeding data -mostly on clutch sizes and linear egg measurements -in 303 publications spanning the years 1838 to 2012. Data from the USA and Argentina were more abundant, with the number of publications per country being significantly and positively related to human development index (HDI) and Fluvicolinae breeding species richness. The amount of available clutch size information for each species was positively related to species' range size and relative abundance. More research is needed concerning narrowly distributed and uncommon species. Additional efforts to gather data on all Neotropical species are, however, crucial for future advancements.

Ecological and environmental factors related to variation in egg size of New World flycatchers

“…number of breeding attempts per breeding season, breeding season length, nest attentiveness, nest success, and adult mortality) that will facilitate the testing of mechanisms responsible for variation in egg size among categories of migratory behaviour and nest type. For example, few data exist for developmental periods (Heming et al ), but such information may be necessary to test how strongly incubation period and egg size are influenced by nest attentiveness and environmental temperature among species and sites. Also, the existing information about egg size and most breeding traits is scarce and geographically scattered across ANA (Martin , Heming et al ).…”

“…For example, few data exist for developmental periods (Heming et al ), but such information may be necessary to test how strongly incubation period and egg size are influenced by nest attentiveness and environmental temperature among species and sites. Also, the existing information about egg size and most breeding traits is scarce and geographically scattered across ANA (Martin , Heming et al ). Thus, gathering field information on these traits across more species and sites to investigate their relationships represents a promising next step for the advancement of life‐history theory.…”

“…open, enclosed, and hole), lay clutches that vary from two to five eggs, exhibit diverse migratory behaviours (i.e. resident, short‐, medium‐, and long‐distance migrants), are distributed throughout the Western hemisphere from southernmost South America to the northernmost regions of North America (Fitzpatrick ), and have relatively well described reproductive biology (but see Heming et al ). Additionally, all tyrant flycatchers are altricial and are uniparental (females) incubators (Fitzpatrick ).…”

História natural e efeito das mudanças climáticas no tamanho da ninhada de Pyrocephalus rubinus (Aves, Tyrannidae)

“…Existe uma grande quantidade de informações biológicas sobre a família Tyrannidae (Heming et al 2013). Essa família possui um total de 429 espécies, amplamente distribuídas, desde o hemisfério sul e norte das Américas (Fitzpatrick 2004).…”

“…Por razões históricas e econômicas, os Estados Unidos investem mais em pesquisa e Heming et al 2013). A má distribuição dos registros reprodutivos e não reprodutivos das subespécies reflete o mesmo padrão, já que P. r. piurae, P. r. cocachacrae, P. r. pinicola, P. r. saturatus, P. r. ardens, P. r. dubius, P. r. nanus e P. r. obscurus ocupam a região central da distribuição geográfica da espécie, P. r. flammeus, P. r. blatteus e P. r. mexicanus ocupa o norte da distribuição e P. r. rubinus ocupa a região sul.Apesar das Ilhas de Galápagos estarem inseridas em uma região de pouca amostragem, de pouco investimento em desenvolvimento humano e pouca tradição em pesquisa ornitológica(James 1987;Heming et al 2013), as subspécies presentes nas ilhas (P.r. dubius e P. r. nanus), possuem grande quantidade de registros não reprodutivos.…”