Nesting and singing behavior of common bush-tanagers (Chlorospingus ophthalmicus) in South America:  Comportamiento de anidación y canto del montero común (Chlorospingus ophthalmicus) en Suramérica

Carlos Daniel Cadena; Sergio Córdoba-Córdoba; Gustavo A. Londoño; Thomas E. Martin; María Piedad Baptiste1; Diego Calderón-F.

doi:10.59517/oc.e143

Authors

Carlos Daniel Cadena Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de los Andes, Apartado Aéreo 4976, Bogotá, Colombia.
Sergio Córdoba-Córdoba Laboratorio de Ecología de Poblaciones, Departamento de Biología, Ponticia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá and Asociación Bogotana de Ornitología ABO
Gustavo A. Londoño Department of Zoology, University of Florida, PO Box 118525 Gainesville FL 32611.
Thomas E. Martin USGS Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812.
María Piedad Baptiste1 Laboratorio de Ecología de Poblaciones, Departamento de Biología, Ponticia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá.
Diego Calderón-F. Instituto de Biología, Uniersidad de Antioquia, Apartado Aéreo 1226, Medellín, Colombia.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59517/oc.e143

Keywords:

Andes, Chlorospingus ophthalmicus, Colombia, breeding biology, geographic variation, vocalizations, neotropical birds

Abstract

We present new information on the natural history of Chlorospingus ophthalmicus based on field work conducted over several years in various localities in Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, and Venezuela. Data on a total of 32 nests reveal that the species is rather plastic in nest-site selection; at the same locality, nests occupied contrasting microhabitats, such as earthen banks on pastures close to forest edges and cavities in moss-covered trunks in relatively dense forest. In spite of such local variations, the data are suggestive of differences between populations (e.g., nests in Argentina were often placed higher in trees than in other areas) that merit further study. Clutch sizes of nests found in this study and of those reported in the literature varied from one to three, and eggs from smaller clutches tended to be larger than those from larger clutches. Our observations on nesting sites, nest architecture and materials, egg coloration, and appearance of nestlings are largely consistent with data on other members of the complex and other congeners. Analyses of dawn songs of Colombian populations of C. ophthalmicus indicates that vocalizations of members of the so-called flavopectus group are notoriously more complex than those of members of the ophthalmicus group. The occurrence of taxa that appear to differ markedly in vocalizations and morphology in close geographic proximity in the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia highlights the importance of continued field study to resolve species limits in this difficult group.

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