Abstract
Despite the fact thatE. chlorotica(Linnaeus, 1766) is common and widely distributed in South America, the reproductive aspects of the species are poorly documented. Here we present data on 18 active nests found from August to February, between 2007 and 2012. Nests were globular with a lateral entrance, and measured 97.9 ± 14.4 mm in outside height, 110.6 ± 11.6 mm in outside diameter, and were 4.88 ± 2.09 m above ground. They were often supported from bellow and were composed mainly of tiny dry leafs and leaflets, fine petioles, and plumed seeds, all compacted with spider web silk. Eggs were laid on consecutive days or with one day interval, and clutch size varied from 1–3 eggs (2.1 ± 0.6, n = 9 nests). Only females incubated the eggs, but both sexes were involved in nest construction and nestling attendance at similar rates. Incubation and nestling periods were 14 and 21 days, respectively, and overall nest survival probability was 5%. A vespiary used for nesting was not occupied by wasps and nest material was deposited only to form the incubatory chamber. Although nesting near wasps or bees is a widespread strategy among birds in general, nesting inside the nests of social insects is a poorly documented behavior.
Highlights
Euphonias are small and conspicuous arboreal passerines, comprising 27 species that are restricted to the Neotropics (Hilty 2011)
The nesting season in our study area matched most of the records of active nests of the Purple-throated Euphonia from other localities, i.e. one nest recorded in late November in Paraguay (Bertoni 1904), one nest found in October in Santa Fé, Argentina (De La Peña 1996), one nest found in December in Bahia, northeastern Brazil (Lima 2006), and two nests found in September/October in Distrito Federal, Central Brazil (Marini et al 2012)
Kirwan (2009) observed a nest with nestlings on 7 August 2007 in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, meaning that breeding activities may have started in June, and in Manaus, northern Brazil, Oniki and Willis (1983) observed a nest that was active at least from 21 April to 25 May 1974, indicating that the breeding season can be different in other South American regions
Summary
Euphonias are small and conspicuous arboreal passerines, comprising 27 species that are restricted to the Neotropics (Hilty 2011). Euphonia chlorotica (Linnaeus, 1766) is widely distributed in South America, occurring in most of Brazil, Guianas, and Paraguay, and in parts of Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina It inhabits forest borders, clearings, Cerrado, Caatinga (Ridgely and Tudor 1994, Sick 1997, Hilty 2011), and many types of secondary and anthropogenic habitats, such as orchards and urban vegetated areas. Knowledge on parental activities is limited to the information that both males and females participate in nest construction (Oniki and Willis 1983, De la Peña 1996) and in nestling provisioning (Oniki and Willis 1983, Kirwan 2009), and incubation period is known from only one egg (Lima 2006). Our specific goals in this paper were: 1) to provide supplemental information on nest, eggs, and nestling characteristics, clutch size, and incubation period; 2) to present for the first time information on nest measurements, nesting phenology, duration of the breeding season, nesting success, partitioning of parental activities, and the first nestling period, and 3) to provide the first report of a nest constructed inside a vespiary
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