Parental Care of Nestlings in the Slaty-Backed Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus Fuscater) in Eastern Ecuador

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus fuscater) (Fig. 1) is an uncommon to locally fairly common Andean thrush (family Turdidae). It is found in dense, mossy, humid montane forest, in foothills and lower temperate highlands at 600–3250 m a.s.l., from Costa Rica to northwestern Bolivia. The species prefers dense undergrowth and is often associated with riparian areas (Collar 2005). In Ecuador, it inhabits both Andean slopes, pre-dominantly at elevations of 1200–2600 ma.s.l.; these populations belong to the nominate subspecies (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001). The biology of the Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush is rather poorly studied (Collar2005). Beltrán & Kattan (2001) found a single nest in Colombia’s Central Cordillera, describing the nest, eggs, and some details of incubation and nestling provisioning behaviors, including a reported nestling period of 14 days. Recent work by Greeney et al. (in press) describes cooperative breeding in a single nest in Ecuador. Here we expand upon their observations with a detailed description of nestling care and nestling growth based on two nests (one the same as in Greeney et al. in press) studied in northeastern Ecuador.

Department(s)

Biological Sciences

Publication Title

Ornitologia Neotropical

Volume

26

Issue

1

First Page

117

Last Page

123

Publication Date

1-2015

DOI

https://journals.sfu.ca/ornneo/index.php/ornneo/article/view/19/12

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS