Nectar, fleshy fruits and the abundance of parrots at a gallery forest in the southern Pantanal (Brazil)

Abstract

The Blue‐fronted amazon (Amazona aestiva) and the Nanday parakeet (Nandayus nenday) are often present in the gallery forests of Southern Pantanal, however the factors related to their occurrence in this habitat type are unknown. In this study, I assessed the abundance of both species at a gallery forest in the Southern Pantanal and analyzed their relationship with foraging. While N. nenday occurred in large numbers in the late dry season, A. aestiva was abundant in the middle of rainy season. Nandayus nenday extensively foraged for Inga vera nectar, massively available at that time. On the other hand, A. aestiva heavily consumed fleshy fruits, plentiful available during rains and floods. After the depletion of such resources parrots became scarce in the gallery forest. The data presented here indicate that the local abundance pattern of these parrots are likely triggered by massive, albeit seasonally available, food resources within habitat mosaics in the semi‐arid Pantanal.