Abstract
Cinclodes pabsti is an endemic passerine restricted to the highland areas in southern Brazil. The aim of this study was to provide information on its breeding biology. The nesting cavities along road cuts were monitored from May 2008 to March 2011. The survey was carried out monthly from May to July 2008, February to July 2009, 2010 (non-breeding season), weekly from August 2008 to January 2009, 2010 (breeding season), and on a 2 to 4-days basis from August 2010 to January 2011. The geographic location, physical characteristics, and soil/substrate type in which the nesting cavities were situated were recorded. The total number of cavities used in the three breeding seasons was 136, resulting in 295 nests. The distance of a nest to its nearest neighbor ranged from 24-2,368 m, with a higher number of nests (n = 34; 59.7%) in the distance interval of 24-500 m. There was a greater usage of cavities located in Inceptisols, and the distances of nesting cavity entrances to the ground and to the top of road cuts were 1.6 ± 0.9 m and 0.8 ± 0.62 m, respectively. The breeding season lasted 148 days from mid-August to early January. Clutch size (n = 256) varied from 2 to 3 eggs, and the eggs (n = 155) had a total length of 27.2 ± 1.3 mm, breadth of 20.9 ± 0.8 mm, and mass of 6.2 ± 0.7 g. The incubation phase lasted 17.3 ± 0.8 days and the nestling phase for 18.3 ± 1.5 days. The body mass of the chicks was 6.0 ± 1.0 g just after hatching and reached a maximum of 59.6 ± 2.4 g at 16 days of age. Our results can contribute to filling the gaps in knowledge of C. pabsti ecology, because its habitat is under high anthropic pressures and the information on its life history is yet limited.
Highlights
Cinclodes pabsti Sick, 1969 is one of the 15 species (Remsen et al, 2020) in the monophyletic genus Cinclodes Gray, 1840 (Furnariidae) found in South America (Chesser, 2004; Remsen et al, 2020)
Colaptes campestris plays an important role in the southern Brazil highland grasslands, providing a key structural feature which is a critical resource for C. pabsti
C. pabsti is commonly reported to excavate its own burrows in the literature (Sick, 1973; Belton, 1984), there were no records of cavities excavated entirely by this species even after three years of fieldwork
Summary
Cinclodes pabsti Sick, 1969 is one of the 15 species (Remsen et al, 2020) in the monophyletic genus Cinclodes Gray, 1840 (Furnariidae) found in South America (Chesser, 2004; Remsen et al, 2020). Cinclodes pabsti inhabits open grasslands and places with easy access to water, feeds on a wide range of invertebrates, and forages in rocky hills (Sick, 1973, 1997; Belton, 1984). It is not as closely associated with water as other Cinclodes spp. Nesting is done in an underground nest located at the end of a gallery (Sick, 1997) excavated on natural cliffs and road cuts and in spaces under roofs in farm buildings (Belton, 1984). Sick (1973, 1997) reported reproductive activities in September and November
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