Abstract
We present new aspects of breeding biology of Gray-fronted Dove Leptotila rufaxilla, from five nests found between 2012 and 2014 in a lowland forest fragment in southwestern Brazil. The nests simple/platform shape were built at a mean height of 1.90 m above ground. The clutch size was two eggs white and elliptic, incubated for 15 days (based on three nests). We recorded predation in two nests still in incubation phase. Minimum hatch weight of nestlings was 10 g and young fledged with a mean mass of 56 g. The constant growth rate (K) of nestlings was 0.40 with a growth asymptote of 60.7 g. Daily survival rate, Mayfield and apparent nesting success in the incubation period was 90, 20 and 56%, respectively, while in the nestling period were all 100%. Our data and the contribution of citizen science showed that L. rufaxilla breeds over the year, mainly in the rainy season, both in southwestern Amazonia and in other regions of occurrence.
Highlights
Ornithological studies in the Neotropical region have increased considerably in recent years (Xiao et al 2017), but the basic aspects of the biology of many bird species remain limited
Despite Leptotila rufaxilla to be commonly found within the forest (Ingels 1982, Schulenberg et al 2010), in Zoobotanical Park (ZP) this species appears to nest in open areas with cultivated plants or in forest edge
The shape and dimensions nest of L. r. reichenbachii in Argentina (Bodrati & Salvador 2013) and L. r. rufaxilla in north Brazil (Oniki & Willis 1983) were similar to those found in this work, like “shallow platforms”
Summary
Ornithological studies in the Neotropical region have increased considerably in recent years (Xiao et al 2017), but the basic aspects of the biology of many bird species remain limited. Not all studies of avian breeding biology have given to these aspects the attention of practical and theoretical importance they deserve, such as incubation and nestling period (Skutch 1945). The Gray-fronted Dove Leptotila rufaxilla ranges widely in South America with six recognized subspecies (Baptista et al 2020). In Brazil, this species is widely distributed, and four subspecies are recognized (Piacentini et al 2015). In southwestern Amazon (State of Acre), southeastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, south Venezuela and north Brazil represent the limit of the distribution of L. r. We present new information on the breeding biology, such as nestling growth, of L. rufaxilla from a lowland forest in southwestern Brazilian Amazon
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