Crested Quetzal (Pharomachrus antisianus) preying on a Glassfrog (Anura, Centrolenidae) in Sierra de Perijá, northwestern Venezuela

Abstract

We report the predation of a glassfrog (Hyalinobatrachium pallidum) by a Crested Quetzal (Pharomachrus antisianus). The record was made in a locality in the Sierra de Perija, near to the northern part of the border between Colombia and Venezuela, and consisted in observinga male P. antisianus vocalizing with a glassfrog in its bill. The vocalizations were answered by a female, which approached the male, took the frog with its bill and carried it into a cavity built on a landslide. Subsequent to this, the male remained near to the cavity until the female left it and together they abandoned this place. Based on the behavior observed in the couple of quetzals, and what has previously been described that this group of birds gives their young a diet rich in animal protein comprised of arthropods and small vertebrates, we believe that the couple was raising a brood at the time when the observation was carried out.