Foraging behavior and association with mixed flocks by the Critically Endangered Alagoas Tyrannulet Phylloscartes ceciliae (Aves: Passeriformes: Tyrannidae)

Abstract

The Alagoas Tyrannulet Phylloscartes ceciliae is a Critically Endangered species with a restricted distribution to the Atlantic Forest of the Pernambuco Endemism Center. It seems to specialize in using the sally-strike maneuver (68.85%) to catch prey on green foliage (50.82%) and in the air (34.42%). We calculated a catch rate of 2.93 catches/minute, identified a new food item for this species (caterpillars), and included 12 species in the list of birds recorded in mixed flocks with the species. Our results show that majority of the prey capture events by Alagoas Tyrannulet occurred inside tree canopies, thus we can infer that this species needs a more advanced stage of forest sucession, with higher trees, emphasizing the urgency for restoration programs in the region.

The Alagoas Antwren Myrmotherula snowi is in imminent danger of extinction

“…Serra do Urubu, including the Pedra D'Antas and Frei Caneca private reserves (Lagoa dos Gatos/Jaqueira) in Pernambuco, has been thoroughly searched since the 2009 record by the same observers of that last individual to map the territories of all threatened endemic birds, including annual systematic bird surveys over the last 10 years as well as other in-depth studies of some of these species (Gussoni and Pongiluppi 2021;SAVE Brasil unpublished reports). At Murici in Alagoas, more than 150 visits of 2-15 days have been made since 2010 to monitor birds and their nests, including the mist netting of 18 Alagoas Antwrens (Gonçalves and Efe 2021;Vilela 2017Vilela , 2020; SAVE Brasil unpublished reports; visits since 2016 shown in Supplementary material Table S1).…”