Parental care and time-activity budget of a breeding pair of Black-chested Buzzard-eagles (Geranoaetus melanoleucus) in southern Patagonia, Argentina: Cuidado parental y actividad diaria de una pareja anidante de águilas moras (Geranoaetus melanoleucus) en la Patagonia Sur, Argentina

Eduardo R. De Lucca; Miguel D. Saggese

doi:10.59517/oc.e273

Authors

Eduardo R. De Lucca Centro de Estudios y Manejo de Predadores de Argentina, 3 De Febrero 1664, San Fernando (1646) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Miguel D. Saggese Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59517/oc.e273

Keywords:

Black-chested Buzzard-Eagles, Geranoaetus melanoleucus, parental care, Patagonia, time-activity budget

Abstract

We investigated the parental care and time-activity budget of a breeding pair of Black-chested Buzzard-Eagles (Geranoaetus melanoleucus) in southern Patagonia, Argentina. Female and male shared daytime incubation (male 30.3%, female 69.7%), but the female was responsible for a larger percentage in the middle and late stages of incubation. Two chicks hatched, only one of which (a female) survived after days 8-12 of the nestling period and fledged at 56 days. In the nestling period, the female spent 62.2% of her time attending the nest, vs. 10.9% for the male. During this period, prey for the female and nestling(s) was almost exclusively delivered by the male (n=46, 95.8%). The female delivered prey to the nestling only twice, be-tween days 31 and 40. The male did not reduce his provisioning rate during later stages of the nestling period. The female performed most of the feeding of the offspring. After the nestling was >40 days old, the parents nearly stopped feeding it. Overall, results of this study are consistent with the division of labor between the sexes observed in other large mammal- and bird-eating raptors from temperate regions outside of the Neotropics. However, in this pair the female did not become a significant prey-provider during the second half of the nestling period; the male was almost the only food provider. Further studies should examine a larger number of nests to determine if this is a common behavior in this species or unique to this pair. Moreover, the role that biotic (brood size, age of adults, food availability, competition with other predators) and abiotic (day length, topography, weather) factors may have in the parental care and time-activity budget of Black-chested Buzzard-Eagles across its complete range should be investigated.

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