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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 110(2)

Behavioural and morphological observations of the Collared Crescentchest (Melanopareia torquata) in a Cerrado area of south-eastern Brazil

Mieko Ferreira Kanegae A E , Marina Telles B , Severino de Albuquerque Lucena C and José Carlos Motta-Junior D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Laboratório de Vertebrados, Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.

B Pós Graduação em Ecologia e Recursos Naturais pela Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Via Washington Luiz, Km 235 Caixa Postal 676, Bairro Monjolinho, 13565-905 São Carlos, SP, Brazil.

C Laboratório de Biotecnologia, Instituto Nacional de Metrologia, Normalização e Qualidade Industrial, INMETRO. Av. Nossa Senhora das Graças 50, Xerém, Duque de Caxias, 25250-020 RJ, Brazil.

D Laboratório de Ecologia de Aves, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, 05508-900 São Paulo, SP, Brazil.

E Corresponding author. Email: mieko.kanegae@gmail.com

Emu 110(2) 142-145 https://doi.org/10.1071/MU09016
Submitted: 28 February 2009  Accepted: 20 October 2009   Published: 19 May 2010

Abstract

The Collared Crescentchest (Melanopareia torquata) is endemic to the Cerrado Biome, and distributed mainly in Brazil, but extending to Bolivia and Paraguay. Although considered of least concern globally, it is threatened in the state of São Paulo in south-eastern Brazil. In this study we examined the morphology and some aspects of behaviour of the Collared Crescentchest. Birds were captured with mist-nets using playback in September–December 2006 and October–November 2007. For each captured bird, we took a range of morphological measurements, looked for brood-patches and moult, and took a blood sample for genetic determination of sex. Of the 35 individuals captured, only five were female, probably as a result of behavioural differences between sexes, with males apparently responding more readily to the playback. Furthermore, birds with white dorsal patches exhibited more aggression or risk taking behaviour than birds without patches. However, there was no sexual dimorphism in any of the morphological or colour traits measured (although the female sample was small). Brood-patches were present mainly in October and November, but we did not detect any cloacal protuberance. Among the four species that comprise the family Melanopareiidae, this is the first record of brood-patches in males.

Additional keywords: natural history, São Paulo, savanna.


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