art01 - omena júnior.indd - Sociedade Brasileira de Ornitologia

134 Notes on the breeding ecology and seasonality of some Brazilian birdsGuy M. Kirwanet al. (submitted). On 2 November 2009, again at ParqueEstadual Intervales, I observed a pair of Black-leggedDacnis feeding in a small Leguminosae tree close to thesite of the first nest described above. The pair engaged incourtship feeding, but no other signs of breeding wereobserved, either by me or the local guides. Amongst thegenus Dacnis, the nests of only three species have beendescribed, namely those of Blue D. cayana and ScarletthighedDacnis D. venusta (Isler and Isler 1999), and,more recently, Yellow-bellied Dacnis D. flaviventer (Sheldonand Greeney 2008). Though the materials used inthe two nests of Black-legged Dacnis observed at Intervaleswere quite similar to those from which the otherthree species are constructed, their architecture was apparentlystrikingly different; all three other species buildsimple, open-cup nests, generally supported by branches,rather than being pensile. Such variability in Dacnis nestarchitecture requires further research, to establish whethersuch closed/ovoid/pensile-type nests (sensu Simon andPacheco 2005) are typical of D. nigripes, and to determinethe types of nests constructed by those congenerics whosenests remain to be described.Rufous-headed Tanager Hemithraupis ruficapillaOn 1 September 2005, at Fazenda Santa Maria,Trindade, Rio de Janeiro state, in foothill Atlantic Forestwith a canopy height of c. 15 m, I observed a pairof this species collecting Usnea moss and carrying it toan unseen nest. The only previously published breedingdata involved the observation of a female carrying stripsof bamboo into a ball of Tillandsia moss in October, inRio de Janeiro state (T.A. Parker in Isler and Isler 1999).Red-rumped Warbling Finch Poospiza lateralisOn 20 October 2000, along the Agulhas Negras road,in Itatiaia National Park, at the boundary between Rio deJaneiro and Minas Gerais, I observed a pair of this commonPoospiza carrying food to young in a nest situated in an areaof 1 m-tall scrub with many ferns and brackens. Althoughthe begging young were just audible, it was not possible tosee and examine the nest (without causing excessive disturbance),which was briefly described for this species fromArgentina by de la Peña (1989). However, there seem to befew if any data concerning seasonality and the Argentinedata concern the form P. cabanisi, which was treated as aseparate, phylogenetic species, by Assis et al. (2007).Slate-coloured Seedeater Sporophila schistaceaOn several dates between 27 August and 14 September2004, in the Serra dos Carajás, Pará, I observeda nesting pair of this poorly known, bamboo-dependentseedeater, along the rio Parauapebas. The nest wasc. 2.5 m above ground and was nestled within a clump ofdead leaves, c. 3 m from the trunk in the outer part of ac. 20 m tall tree in terra firme forest, close to an area thatis flooded to some extent seasonally and sited less than2 m from a broad trail. Its structure was not yet readilyapparent, indicating that nest construction had only justcommenced. Both pair members (the male apparentlyfully adult) brought small twigs and dead grass stems, occasionallyfrom the ground. In the surrounding area, overa 500 m linear section of trail, the species was common,with males (both adults and immatures) singing andholding territory every 20 to 30 m, usually singing fromconcealed perches < 10 m above ground and close to theborder formed by the trail. No flowering bamboo was immediatelyevident in the surrounding area, but there weremany spiny palms. Other observers (e.g. Whittaker 2004)have noted that the species frequently gathers in areaswith rice fields, but this was not the case here, althoughagricultural small-holdings are to be found on the oppositebank of the rio Parauapebas, c. 200 m distant. This isthe only time I have recorded the species in the Serra dosCarajás during the course of six visits to the area, totalling> 2 months, in August, September, December and Februarybetween 2001 and 2009. Stiles and Skutch (1989)already noted, in relation to Costa Rica, that the speciesrarely seems to occupy the same area for breeding in consecutiveyears. My breeding data appear to be the firstfrom Brazil, but accord well with previously published informationfrom southern Venezuela (Cherrie 1916) andPanama (Wetmore et al. 1984, Stutchbury et al. 1996),all in the period June to September. However, in northwestEcuador, there is an unpublished observation of apair nest-building north of the río Canandé, Esmeraldasprovince, on 25 April 2006 (R. Ahlman).aCKNowledgementsMike Flieg and Mark Elwonger organised several of thetours during which observations presented here were made, whilstHadoram Shirihai funded three of the field trips, in 2006, 2007 and2009. William Price, Arthur Grosset and Chris Bradshaw providedphotographic material pertaining to some of the nests described in thispaper. Veronica Nogueira Gama also joined some field trips. GilbertoTeixeira Rodrigues and Faustino Avelino Ribeiro were fine guides atParque Estadual Intervales. Manuel Marín and Fernando Pachecoassisted with some essential literature. I thank Mario Cohn-Haft fortwice arranging access to the ZF2 tower at Manaus. I am grateful tofour anonymous referees for their comments on this manuscript, andMarcelo Vasconcelos for his final remarks and invaluable assistancewith the summary.RefereNCesAguilar, T.M.; Leite, L.O. and Marini, M.Â. (1999). Biologiada nidificação de Lathrotriccus euleri (Cabanis, 1968 [sic])Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia, 17(2), 2009