The Spotted Barbtail (Premnoplex brunnescens): Observations on the parental care behavior of a montane Neotropical Furnariid

Document Type

Article

Abstract

We document the nestling care of the Spotted Barbtail (Premnoplex brunnescens) including provisioning rates and items brought to the nest. Based on 230 hours of video spanning from hatch to fledging at a single nest, we confirm that both sexes of the Spotted Barbtail primarily provision nestlings with arthropods (89.7%) but also document the first feeding of frogs in the genus Premnoplex. Concurrent with a sudden drop in daily brooding time, provisioning rates increased significantly when nestlings reached 10 days of age (from 2.29 ± 0.38 to 5.25 ± 0.76 feeds/nestling/h). We also document unassisted fecal sac ejection by nestlings beginning by 10 days of age. Our observed length of the nestling period was 22 days

Department(s)

Biological Sciences

Publication Title

Ornitologia Neotropical

Volume

25

Issue

2

First Page

159

Last Page

167

Publication Date

2014

ISSN

1075-4377

Comments

Student author: Elizabeth Boyd, Biological Sciences graduate.

Copy of this article is archived in the Searchable Ornithological Research Archive at the University of New Mexico which contains volumes 1-25. The journal website Ornitologia Neotropical has issues for Volume 26 (2016) up to the present.

Share

COinS