Tanager Research Articles

Host life-history traits predict haemosporidian parasite prevalence in tanagers (Aves: Thraupidae).

Vector-borne parasites are important ecological drivers influencing life-history evolution in birds by increasing host mortality or susceptibility to new diseases. Therefore, understanding why vulnerability to infection varies within a host clade is a crucial task for conservation biology and for understanding macroecological life-history patterns. Here, we studied the relationship of avian life-history traits and climate on the prevalence of Plasmodium and Parahaemoproteus parasites. We sampled 3569 individual birds belonging to 53 species of the family Thraupidae. Individuals were captured from 2007 to 2018 at 92 locations. We created 2 phylogenetic generalized least-squares models with Plasmodium and Parahaemoproteus prevalence as our response variables, and with the following predictor variables: climate PC1, climate PC2, body size, mixed-species flock participation, incubation period, migration, nest height, foraging height, forest cover, and diet. We found that Parahaemoproteus and Plasmodium prevalence was higher in species inhabiting open habitats. Tanager species with longer incubation periods had higher Parahaemoproteus prevalence as well, and we hypothesize that these longer incubation periods overlap with maximum vector abundances, resulting in a higher probability of infection among adult hosts during their incubation period and among chicks. Lastly, we found that Plasmodium prevalence was higher in species without migratory behaviour, with mixed-species flock participation, and with an omnivorous or animal-derived diet. We discuss the consequences of higher infection prevalence in relation to life-history traits in tanagers.

A feather hydrogen (δ2H) isoscape for Brazil.

Spatial patterns of stable isotopes in animal tissues or “isoscapes” can be used to investigate animal origins in a range of ecological and forensic investigations. Here, we developed a feather hydrogen isotope (δ2Hf) isoscape for Brazil based on 192 samples of feathers from the family Thraupidae from scientific collections. Raw values of δ2Hf ranged from -107.3 to +5.0‰, with higher values at the Caatinga biome (northeast Brazil) and lower values at the Amazon and Pantanal. A Random Forest (RF) method was used to model the spatial surface, using a range of environmental data as auxiliary variables. The RF model indicated a negative relationship between δ2Hf and Mean Annual Precipitation, Precipitation in the Warmest Quarter, and Annual Temperature Range and positive relationships for amount-weighted February-April precipitation δ2H (δ2Hp(Feb-April)) and Mean Annual Solar Radiation. Modelled δ2Hf values ranged from -85.7 to -13.6‰. Ours is the first δ2Hf isoscape for Brazil that can greatly assist our understanding of both ecological and biogeochemical processes controlling spatial variation in δ2H for this region. This isoscape can be used with caution, due to its poor predictive power (as found in other tropical regions) and can benefit from new sample input, new GNIP data, ecological and physiological studies, and keratin standard material better encompassing the range in feather samples from Brazil. So, we encourage new attempts to build more precise feather H isoscapes, as well as isoscapes based on other elements.

Insight into the characteristics of an important evolutionary model bird (Geospiza magnirostris) mitochondrial genome through comparison

Darwin’s finches are the most classic case of evolution. Early studies on the evolution of this species were mainly based on morphology. Until now, the mitochondrial genome of Geospiza magnirostris has been sequenced and the study explored the characteristics of the complete genome of G. magnirostris and verified the evolutionary position of it. The 13 PCGs initiated by ATN codons. The stop codons of three PCGs (ND2, COX3 and ND4) were incomplete, with only T- or TA- replacing complete form TAA or TAG. All the tRNA genes expressed a typical cloverleaf secondary structure, except for tRNASer1(AGY), whose dihydrouridine (DHU) arm was lack and instead with a simple loop. In the sequence of the control region of G. magnirostris, we found six simple repeat tandem sequences with a total length of 42 bp. Two characteristic conserved overlapping junction (ATGCTAA) and (CAAGAAAG) were observed as reported for eight selected Passeriformes birds. A special conserved overlapping junction (ATCTTACC) involved in mitochondrial transcription termination was found between tRNATyr and COX1 in G. magnirostris’s control region. Four most frequently used amino acids in G. magnirostris’s PCGs were Leu1 (CUN), Ile, Thr, Ala. The codon usage of G. magnirostris was relatively average, and there was no particular bias. The ratio Ka/Ks results showed that G. magnirostris receives less natural selection pressure. The phylogenetic relationships and cluster analysis of relative codon usage showed that G. magnirostris and Thraupis episcopus clustered in one branch. The phylogenetic position of G. magnirostris was consistent with the traditional taxonomic of Thraupis. The results supported the conclusion that G. magnirostris belongs to the morphological classification of the family Thraupidae.

The use of Passeriformes in the eastern Amazonia of Brazil: culture encourages hunting and profit encourages trade

AbstractThis study characterized the ethnoornithological knowledge of passerine bird keepers, known locally ascriadoresorpassarinheiros, who capture, train, breed and sell wild species in the eastern Amazonia of Brazil. The data were collected from 62 bird keepers through informal, semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The family Thraupidae was the most captured group, with 23 species used, predominantly of the genusSporophila.Sporophila angolensishad the highest use value and price. Our findings suggest that conservation strategies should be a priority forSporophila maximiliani,S. angolensesandSaltator maximus. The Passeriformes are obtained by capturing them from the wild, by captive breeding or in trade. They are trapped and sold locally, in nearby municipalities, and also in more distant locations as far as the border with Suriname, French Guiana and Guyana. On the international market, sale prices can reach USD 5,400 per individual bird. Species with both significant economic value and regional cultural significance are of the greatest importance to the bird keepers. To mitigate the negative effects of this activity, we recommend implementation of environmental education programmes for bird keepers, to improve their capacity to raise awareness about wildlife, and to inform them of the legal processes for bird keeping and for breeding birds in captivity for legal trade. Long-term strategies for bird conservation should also be considered, such as the implementation of ecotourism in protected areas to encourage the practice of birdwatching.

A New Isospora (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the Summer Tanager, Piranga rubra (Aves: Passeriformes: Cardinalidae), in Oklahoma.

The summer tanager, Piranga rubra (L., 1758) is a medium-sized songbird formerly belonging to the tanager family Thraupidae but now has been placed within the family Cardinalidae. Nothing is known about the coccidian parasites of this stunningly colorful bird. Feces from 2 P. rubra found dead in McCurtain County, Oklahoma were collected and examined for coccidia; 1 was found to be passing a new species of Isospora. Oocysts of Isospora mccurtainensis n. sp. are subspheroidal to ovoidal with a smooth bilayered wall, measure (length × width [L × W]) 21.7 × 19.5 μm, and have a L/W ratio of 1.1; a micropyle and oocyst residuum were absent but a bilobed and refractile polar granule is present. Sporocysts are ellipsoidal and measure 13.9 × 8.6 μm, L/W 1.6; a knoblike Stieda body is present as well as a distinct sub-Stieda body. The sporocyst residuum is composed of a granular compact cluster with a dense, irregular mass of granules lying between and dispersed among the sporozoites. This is the first coccidian reported from P. rubra and, most important, only the first known from the Cardinalidae in the mainland of the United States.

Structural variation and phylogenetic relationship of Geospiza magnirostris based on mitochondrial control region

The control region of mitochondrial genome is the main non-coding region. There is no details about Geospiza magnirostris’s control region, who is the only species of Geospiza in Darwin finches whose mitochondrial genome has been sequenced. In this study, the control region mitochondrial genome of G. magnirostris was analyzed. Compare research for 15 Passerine species, belonging to 4 families (Darwin ground finch, Thraupidae, Icteridae, Emberizidae), was also been done. The result showed the length was 1202 bp and it could been divided into three parts, domainI, domainII and domainIII. Genetic distances showed average divergence of different family ranged from 0.36% (Darwin ground finch) to 9.20% (Emberizidae), indicated that the Darwin ground finch may be a very conservative single-source species. Some specific sequence fragments such as conservative sequence box, boxes C, D, F and E, HSP/LSP, CSB-1, TAS-1 were also found in the control region of G. magnirostris, while B-box, CSB-2 and CSB-3 were not found in it. The F-box was detected in all selected 15 species and was 29 bp in length with no variant sites. In the E-box, 20 of the 21 nucleotide positions were identical as conserved among the selected species. There are two variant sites in the D-box, and five variant sites in the C-box. Basing the phylogenetic tree, it can be clearly seen that the relationship of G. magnirostris and family Thraupidae is the closest in all selected family. Through this study, the structure characteristics of G. magnirostris control region were explored and understood. This study provided more basic information for in-depth research of G. magnirostris. It’s also reminded us that we should pay more attention to explore the characteristics of the control region of Darwin’s finches.

Wild animals seized in a state in Northeast Brazil: Where do they come from and where do they go?

Wild animals are involved in a commerce chain in various parts of the world, even in countries where such practices are prohibited, such as Brazil. This study aimed to evaluate the origin and destination of wild animals seized in the state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN), located in Northeast Brazil, through the analysis and quantification of the vertebrates sent to the Centro de Triagem de Animais Silvestres (CETAS/RN; Wild Animal Triage Center/RN). Data on the entry and exit of wild animals between 2005 and 2016 were provided by CETAS/RN. During this period, a total of 16,316 animals were received, 12,893 of which came from seizures, 1302 collected from urban environments and 2026 from voluntarily delivery. Of the animals received, birds represented 84.80%, with a total of 13,837 specimens; an additional of 1539 reptiles and 940 mammals were also received. The bird family Thraupidae was the most seized (67.25%), followed by Cardinalidae (7.92%), Psittacidae (7.72%) and Icteridae (7.54%). Thirteen of the species of seized vertebrates are included in the IUCN red list of threatened species and nine are included in the Brazilian list. A total of 64.84% of the seized animals were released in areas of the Caatinga and Atlantic Forest biomes in the state. The prohibition of illegal trade, associated with environmental education programs, can reduce the number of animals that arrive at CETAS. Furthermore, more efficient inspection is necessary since illegal trafficking of animals in the region occurs clandestinely, even in the face of prohibitive legislation.

Where are the species limits? Morphology versus genetics in Neotropical chewing lice of the genus Myrsidea (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae), with description of three new species

Eleven species of lice of the genus Myrsidea Waterston, 1915 (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) from passerine birds (Passeriformes: Cardinalidae, Fringillidae, Thraupidae) in the Neotropical Region are recorded and discussed. They include three new species with hosts in the family Thraupidae from Paraguay, which are described and illustrated: Myrsidea flaveolae new species ex Sicalis flaveola, Myrsidea habiae new species ex Habia rubica, and Myrsidea sayacae new species ex Thraupis sayaca. Five other previously known Myrsidea species are included with new data on intraspecific morphological variability, hosts associations and geographical distribution, as follows: Myrsidea coronatae, M. lightae, M. rufi, M. seminuda, and M. violaceae. Three further species are recorded at genus level only due to lack of adequate material. A 379 bp portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene was sequenced in order to assess relative genetic divergence among Myrsidea populations. The application of intra- and interspecific sequence divergences as predictor of species boundaries in the taxonomy of this megadiverse genus is discussed.

Keeping wild birds as pets in a semiarid region of Rio Grande do Norte State, northeastern Brazil

There is a wide variety of wild birds in the semiarid region of Brazil. Some of these birds are frequently used by local populations in various ways, and the habit of keeping wild birds in cages as pets is very common. The objective of this study was to survey the birds kept as pets in a semiarid region of Rio Grande do Norte state in northeastern Brazil. Field study was conducted from September 2009 to March 2010 in the districts of Caicó, São João do Sabugi, Serra Negra do Norte, and Timbaúba dos Batistas. A total of 101 individuals were interviewed, including 91 male respondents, with ages ranging 10–75 years. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews of local residents who kept wild birds as pets. Twenty-five species of wild birds kept as pets, belonging to seven families, were mentioned by the respondents. The family Thraupidae was the most represented, with 10 bird species. Sporophila albogularis, Paroaria dominicana and Icterus jamacaii had the highest use values, all of them species endemic to the Caatinga and Brazil. Capturing wild birds for caged keeping is an activity still practiced in the study area by local human populations, who prefer species endemic to Brazil.

Wild birds as pets in the central region of Cuba: Elements for a mitigation strategy

The island of Cuba has the greatest diversity of birds in the Caribbean, and at the same time, a large number of endangered species. Illegal trade is one of major threats in Neotropical islands, because birds are captured for domestic and international illegal market. This study was undertaken with the aim to characterize the domestic market, in which captive wild birds are used as pets in the central region of Cuba. For this, a census and random survey to identify, and describe wild bird richness and abundance in 10 localities of urban and rural environments, was undertaken from August to November 2014, and from June to October 2015. Our results detected that at least 24 species and 973 individuals from six orders and 11 families were captive. The best represented order was Passeriformes (13 species), followed by Accipitriformes (four species). The best-represented families were Thraupidae (3.3 ± 0.33) and Cardinalidae (2.6 ± 0.45). Besides, the localities of Patria (17), Moron (13) and Bolivia (13) in the urban area had the highest richness. The richness of residents (5.80 ± 0.68) was higher than the endemics (1.70 ± 0.30) and migrants (2.70 ± 0.52), while the richness of endemics (2.5 ± 0.29) and residents (7.75 ± 0.63) was higher in urban areas. There were more captive species with Least Concern category (6.20 ± 1.02), but the Endangered category predominated in rural areas (12.5 %). The most common species were Passerina cyanea , Melopyrrha nigra , Tiaris olivaceus and Passerina ciris. A total of 46% of the species were classified with a tendency to decrease, 33.3 % to increase and 20.8 % to stability. The abundance of species with a tendency to decrease (63.4 ± 22.13) was higher than those that tend to stability (14.8 ± 9.9). The actual traffic will lead to species extinction, mainly parrots and raptors, threatening several ecological services. Illegal trade should be addressed as an environmental, economic and social problem. Strategy for controlling this unsustainable trade was proposed.

402. Notes on the vocalizations of Blue-and-yellow Tanager (Thraupis bonariensis)

402. Notes on the vocalizations of Blue-and-yellow Tanager (Thraupis bonariensis)

406. Notes on the vocalizations of Opal-rumped Tanager (Tangara velia)

406. Notes on the vocalizations of Opal-rumped Tanager (Tangara velia)

Feeding innovations in a nested phylogeny of Neotropical passerines.

Several studies on cognition, molecular phylogenetics and taxonomic diversity independently suggest that Darwin's finches are part of a larger clade of speciose, flexible birds, the family Thraupidae, a member of the New World nine-primaried oscine superfamily Emberizoidea. Here, we first present a new, previously unpublished, dataset of feeding innovations covering the Neotropical region and compare the stem clades of Darwin's finches to other neotropical clades at the levels of the subfamily, family and superfamily/order. Both in terms of raw frequency as well as rates corrected for research effort and phylogeny, the family Thraupidae and superfamily Emberizoidea show high levels of innovation, supporting the idea that adaptive radiations are favoured when the ancestral stem species were flexible. Second, we discuss examples of innovation and problem-solving in two opportunistic and tame Emberizoid species, the Barbados bullfinch Loxigilla barbadensis and the Carib grackle Quiscalus lugubris fortirostris in Barbados. We review studies on these two species and argue that a comparison of L. barbadensis with its closest, but very shy and conservative local relative, the black-faced grassquit Tiaris bicolor, might provide key insights into the evolutionary divergence of cognition.

Intrachromosomal rearrangements in two representatives of the genus Saltator (Thraupidae, Passeriformes) and the occurrence of heteromorphic Z chromosomes.

Saltator is a genus within family Thraupidae, the second largest family of Passeriformes, with more than 370 species found exclusively in the New World. Despite this, only a few species have had their karyotypes analyzed, most of them only with conventional staining. The diploid number is close to 80, and chromosome morphology is similar to the usual avian karyotype. Recent studies using cross-species chromosome painting have shown that, although the chromosomal morphology and number are similar to many species of birds, Passeriformes exhibit a complex pattern of paracentric and pericentric inversions in the chromosome homologous to GGA1q in two different suborders, Oscines and Suboscines. Hence, considering the importance and species richness of Thraupidae, this study aims to analyze two species of genus Saltator, the golden-billed saltator (S. aurantiirostris) and the green-winged saltator (S. similis) by means of classical cytogenetics and cross-species chromosome painting using Gallus gallus and Leucopternis albicollis probes, and also 5S and 18S rDNA and telomeric sequences. The results show that the karyotypes of these species are similar to other species of Passeriformes. Interestingly, the Z chromosome appears heteromorphic in S. similis, varying in morphology from acrocentric to metacentric. 5S and 18S probes hybridize to one pair of microchromosomes each, and telomeric sequences produce signals only in the terminal regions of chromosomes. FISH results are very similar to the Passeriformes already analyzed by means of molecular cytogenetics (Turdus species and Elaenia spectabilis). However, the paracentric and pericentric inversions observed in Saltator are different from those detected in these species, an observation that helps to explain the probable sequence of rearrangements. As these rearrangements are found in both suborders of Passeriformes (Oscines and Suboscines), we propose that the fission of GGA1 and inversions in GGA1q have occurred very early after the radiation of this order.

Green-throated Tanager (Tangara argyrofenges)

Green-throated Tanager (Tangara argyrofenges)

7. Nesting record of Golden-chested Tanager

7. Nesting record of Golden-chested Tanager

Rufous-winged Tanager (Tangara lavinia)

Rufous-winged Tanager (Tangara lavinia)

Golden-hooded Tanager (Tangara larvata)

Golden-hooded Tanager (Tangara larvata)

White-rumped Tanager (Cypsnagra hirundinacea)

White-rumped Tanager (Cypsnagra hirundinacea)

Nesting biology of the Giant Conebill (Oreomanes fraseri) in the High Andes of Bolivia

Eight nests of the Giant Conebill (Oreomanes fraseri, Family Thraupidae) were found in Polylepis forest fragments in Cochabamba Department (Sacha Loma and Cuturi) of Bolivia during 2002–2004. The breeding period of the Giant Conebill extended from September to December at the beginning of the rainy season. The nests were open cups with an average outside width of 20 cm and a thick rim of 5.5 cm; the average clutch size was 1.86. Nests were constructed mostly with parts of Polylepis trees and a variety of mosses. All nests located were in the interior of forests, well camouflaged, and in trees with an average height of 3.16 m. Control of human disturbance, especially burning, is needed for protection of the habitat of the Giant Conebill.