SABIIA - Sistema Aberto e Integrado de Informação em Agricultura (Sabiia)

Sazima,Ivan; Sazima,Cristina; Sazima,Marlies.

Lizards rarely visit and pollinate flowers, the few recent records being mostly restricted to island habitats. We report here on the Noronha skink (Euprepis atlanticus) seeking nectar in the flowers of the leguminous mulungu tree (Erythrina velutina) at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, off northeast Brazil. The mulungu tree blooms during the dry season, and each flower secretes copious and diluted nectar throughout the day. The Noronha skink climbs up to the inflorescences and laps the nectar accumulated in the flowers' base. While exploiting the flowers and crawling over the inflorescences, the body parts of the skink contact the anthers and stigmas and pollen adheres to the lizard's scales. The lizard visits inflorescences from the same and different...

Validated cleaner: the cuculid bird Crotophaga ani picks ticks and pecks at sores of capybaras in southeastern Brazil

Palavras-chave: Euprepis atlanticus; Scincidae; Erythrina velutina; Fabaceae; Saurophily; Oceanic islands.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-06032005000100018

Information on the role of smooth-billed anis (Crotophaga ani) as tick-pickers on mammals remains controversial. I record here these birds removing ticks and pecking at wounds of capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) in a small reserve at Campinas, São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. The birds inspected the mammals skin, both in places with and without hair. The hair was parted with bill movements, and ticks were removed by vigorous pulling. The birds also pecked at open or healing sores, from which they extracted small portions of blood clots and dead tissue. The capybaras appeared oblivious to the birds activity. Even in the case that the cleaning behaviour is restricted to some bird individuals and populations, or places and periods, this record validates...

Fishing behaviour by Black Caracaras (Daptrius ater) in the Amazon

Palavras-chave: Bird-mammal symbiosis; Tick-removing; Cleaning behaviour; Hydrochoerus.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-06032008000100022

Olmos,Fabio; Sazima,Ivan.

The Black Caracara is a widespread raptor in the Amazonian lowlands, mostly associated to riverine habitats. This bird is considered as a generalist scavenger that occasionally takes small prey and feeds on fruit. Here we report on Black Caracaras foraging on live small fish caught while moving upriver in the Rio Roosevelt rapids in the Amazonas state, northwestern Brazil. Fish were picked individually either with the bill or talons in a stretch of shallow water plenty of aquatic plants. This fishing behaviour seems unreported and adds another feeding mode to the already diversified portfolio of foraging strategies for the Caracarini.

Hawksbill turtles visit moustached barbers: cleaning symbiosis between eretmochelys imbricata and the shrimp stenopus hispidus

Palavras-chave: Raptorial birds Black Caracara; Daptrius ater fishing behaviour Characidae.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-06032009000300035

Sazima,Ivan; Grossman,Alice; Sazima,Cristina.

This seems to be the first record of cleaning symbiosis between marine turtles and shrimps. During their foraging on the reef flat, the turtles regularly visited and posed at the stations. The same stations were visited by a few species of reef fishes, which posed and were cleaned by the shrimps. We suggest that cleaning symbiosis between turtles and shrimps is widespread and went unrecognised due to the superficial resemblance between a resting turtle and a posing and cleaned one. Additionally, we submit a putative origin for the cleaning symbiosis between marine turtles and cleaner shrimps following a few simple behavioural steps.

The Chimango Caracara (Milvago chimango), an additional fisher among Caracarini falcons

Palavras-chave: Marine turtle-cleaner shrimp association; Cleaning symbiosis; Origin of turtle-shrimp association; Reef environment; Equatorial West Atlantic.

Ano: 2004

URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-06032004000100011

Sazima,Ivan; Olmos,Fabio.

The Caracarini falcons are among the most versatile birds of prey, and their variable diet includes fishes, which may be taken as carrion. However, fishing behaviour is described for two species. Here we describe the Chimango Caracara (Milvago chimango) fishing at an estuary in Chile, Pacific coast of South America. The caracara flew and glided close to water surface, hovering on occasions. After such a hovering, the bird plunged and attempted to snatch a prey with its talons. If successful, the caracara carried the fish in its talons and landed on an adjacent beach where the prey was torn apart and eaten. The 'glide-hover' technique of the Chimango Caracara differs slightly from the fishing recorded for the closely related Yellow-headed Caracara (Milvago...

Insect cornucopia: various bird types prey on the season's first giant cicadas in an urban park in southeastern Brazil

Palavras-chave: Birds of prey; Falconidae; Fishing behaviour; Foraging tactics; Milvago chimango; Chile.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-06032009000300036

Some species of large cicadas (Hemiptera) emerge in huge numbers during particular periods, and thus become an abundant food source for several vertebrate species that dwell in the same areas. I record here a small assemblage of six bird species that preyed on the season's first giant cicadas (Quesada gigas) from early September to mid November 2007 in an urban park of Campinas, São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. The Plumbeous Kite (Ictinia plumbea) was the most ubiquitous cicada predator. It waited high on perches or patrolled on wing and hunted adult cicadas only. Three cuckoo species (Crotophaga ani, Guira guira, and Piaya cayana) foraged on cicadas both on vegetation and on the ground, the first one also taking nymphs that emerged from a pond bank. The...

Free meals on long-distance cruisers: the vampire fish rides giant catfishes in the Amazon

Palavras-chave: Aves; Ictinia plumbea; Cicada prey; Quesada gigas; Mass emergence; Seasonality; Abundant food source; Urban area.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-06032009000100027

Zuanon,Jansen; Sazima,Ivan.

The trichomycterid catfishes known as candirus are renowned for their blood feeding, but information on their habits under natural conditions is very fragmentary and generally restricted to hosts or habitats. We recorded an undescribed species of the vandelliine genus Paracanthopoma riding the giant jau catfish, Zungaro zungaro (Pimelodidae), in the upper Amazon. The candirus were found on the host's caudal and pectoral fins, as well as the base of the dorsal fin, with their snouts buried up to the eyes in the tough skin of the catfish host. All of them had small amounts of partly digested blood in the distal part of the gut. Along the host's dorsal fin base we found a few additional tiny holes, most of them healed. We suggest that Paracanthopoma feeds on...

What coatis and mongooses have in common?

Palavras-chave: Trichomycteridae; Paracanthopoma sp.; Candiru; Blood-feeding; Phoresis; Dispersal; Pimelodidade; Zungaro zungaro; Amazon.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-06032005000100012

The coatis (Procyonidae) and some species of mongooses (Herpestidae) are diurnal, small to medium-sized carnivores that live in groups and feed opportunistically on small animals and fruits. A comparison of selected features is here presented for two coati species (Nasua narica and N. nasua) and the banded mongoose (Mungos mungo). The former two dwell in the Neotropical region, whereas the latter occurs in the Ethiopian realm. Both the coatis and the mongoose are apt to live near human settlements and capitalise on food refuse. Additionally, coatis and mongooses habituate to humans, and sometimes are a nuisance. These habits, plus their almost constant quest for food, lead these carnivores to meet other mammal types at feeders and garbage dumps and...

Anting behaviour with millipedes by the dendrocolaptid bird Xiphocolaptes albicollis in southeastern Brazil

Palavras-chave: Opportunistic behaviour; Cleaning symbiosis; Convergence; Procyonidae; Herpestidae.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-06032010000300040

Several bird species practice anting. While anting a bird holds an ant or other arthropod that produces toxic or irritating secretions and rubs it on the plumage. Here I describe the White-collared Woodcreeper (Xiphocolaptes albicollis) rubbing its body with millipedes of the orders Spirostreptida and Polydesmida while foraging among banana stumps or at bromeliad clumps in southeastern Brazil. On three occasions I recorded the bird holding a millipede in the bill and rubbing it against its chest, belly, and wings. From time to time the millipede was "chewed", and hammered against the substratum and then rubbed on the plumage again. After a while the millipede was ingested or dropped. Bromeliads harbour a rich fauna that includes mosquitoes, ticks, spiders,...

Whalesuckers and a spinner dolphin bonded for weeks: does host fidelity pay off?

Palavras-chave: Aves; Dendrocolaptidae; Anting behaviour; Foraging behaviour; Millipedes; Toxic secretion; "Xiphocolaptes albicollis".

Ano: 2009

URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-06032009000100024

Silva-Jr,José Martins; Sazima,Ivan.

The whalesucker Remora australis (Echeneidae) is an oceanic diskfish found attached to cetaceans only and its habits are therefore poorly known. At the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, off North-eastern Brazil, spinner dolphins Stenella longirostris (Delphinidae) regularly congregate in large groups in a shallow bay, which allows for underwater observations of their behaviour and their fish associates. In the course of a broader study of this elusive diskfish, we had the opportunity to made multiple records of two whalesucker couples (three of the fish naturally marked) attached to the same individual dolphin in two different years, over periods of 47 and 87 days respectively. In all the sightings the whalesucker individuals of a couple were recorded...

Woody woodpecker enjoys soft drinks: the blond-crested woodpecker seeks nectar and pollinates canopy plants in south-eastern Brazil

Palavras-chave: Fish-cetacean association; Host attachment fidelity; Mate finding; Echeneidae; Delphinidae; Southwestern Atlantic.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-06032003000200012

Rocca,Márcia A.; Sazima,Marlies; Sazima,Ivan.

Insects are the staple diet of woodpeckers, but some species also habitually feed on fruits. A few woodpecker species are recorded as flower visitors for nectar intake. We report here on the blond-crested woodpecker (Celeus flavescens) taking nectar from flowers of two canopy species, Spirotheca passifloroides (Bombacaceae) and Schwartzia brasiliensis (Marcgraviaceae), in the Atlantic forest of south-eastern Brazil. Spirotheca passifloroides blooms for three months in the austral winter, whereas S. brasiliensis blooms for two months in the summer. Flowers of both species produce large amounts of dilute nectar. Celeus flavescens visits several flowers per plant touching the anthers and stigmas with its head and throat, and thus acts as a pollen vector. We...

Cleaner birds: an overview for the Neotropics

Palavras-chave: Celeus flavescens; Picidae; Spirotheca passifloroides; Bombacaceae; Schwartzia brasiliensis; Marcgraviaceae; Ornithophily.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-06032006000200027

Sazima,Ivan; Sazima,Cristina.

Several bird species feed on a variety of external parasites and epibionts, organic debris, dead and wounded tissue, clots and blood, and secretions from the body of other vertebrates (hosts or clients). We present an overview of so called cleaner birds from the Neotropics based on field records, literature, and photo survey. We found that 33 bird species in 16 families practice cleaning even if some of them do so very occasionally. The birds range from the Galápagos ground finch Geospiza fuliginosa to the widespread black vulture Coragyps atratus. Clients mostly are large herbivores such as capybaras, deer, and livestock, but also include medium-sized herbivores such as iguanas and tortoises, and carnivores such as boobies and seals - a few bird species...

Brazilian cleaner birds: update and brief reappraisal

Palavras-chave: Cleaning symbiosis; Opportunistic birds; Association with vertebrates; Ectoparasite and tissue removal.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-06032010000400025

Sazima,Ivan; Sazima,Cristina.

Some bird species feed on external parasites, such as ticks and flies, on the body of mammals (hosts or clients). So called cleaner birds that occur in Brazil were reviewed recently, but gathering of significant new data indicates the need for an update and a brief reappraisal of such association. New records raise the number of known clients for some cleaning birds. The Southern Caracara (Caracara plancus) picks ticks on cattle, and the Black Caracara (Daptrius ater) picks ticks on capybaras. The Wattled Jacana (Jacana jacana) picks ticks, horseflies, arthropods and organic debris on capybaras, and tick-picking on capybaras by the Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) is substantiated by photographs. The Cattle Tyrant (Machetornis rixosa) deftly catches...

Petiscos florais: pétalas de Acca sellowiana (Myrtaceae) como fonte alimentar para aves em área urbana no Sul do Brasil

Palavras-chave: Cleaning symbiosis; Ardeidae; Falconidae; Jacanidae; Tyrannidae; Icteridae.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-06032010000100028

Sazima,Ivan; Sazima,Marlies.

A goiaba-serrana (Acca sellowiana, Myrtaceae) é uma das poucas espécies vegetais cujas pétalas são habitualmente usadas como alimento por aves nos Neotrópicos. Registramos aqui o consumo de pétalas desta mirtácea por nove espécies de aves Passeriformes, numa arvoreta isolada em área urbana de Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul. A maior freqüência de visitas foi registrada para espécies de Thraupidae, aves predominantemente frugívoras. As aves tomavam as pétalas entre as mandíbulas e arrancavam ou cortavam porções, deixando sinais característicos nas flores. Thraupis sayaca e Tangara preciosa foram registrados recolhendo porções de pétalas e levando-as entre as mandíbulas, a primeira espécie tendo sido duas vezes observada fornecendo pétalas a ninhegos. Devido ao...

The association of the goatfish mulloidichthys martinicus with the grunt haemulon chrysargyreum: an example of protective mimicry

Palavras-chave: Recursos florais; Áreas urbanizadas; Passeriformes; Arborização urbana.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-06032007000200035

Krajewski,João Paulo; Bonaldo,Roberta Martini; Sazima,Cristina; Sazima,Ivan.

A presumed example of protective mimicry between the yellow goatfish, Mulloidichthys martinicus (Mullidae) and the smallmouth grunt, Haemulon chrysargyreum (Haemulidae) is described from Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, NE Brazil. The goatfish and the grunt share a similar overall shape and colour pattern. We found that these two species regularly form mixed schools around reefs. Additionally, when chased small groups of yellow goatfish join schools of smallmouth grunts and behave like them. The colour and shape resemblances between the two species enable their mixed schooling, and enhance the protection against visually oriented predators for both of them. Thus, we suggest that the protective association herein reported for the goatfish and the grunt may...

The parakeet Brotogeris tirica feeds on and disperses the fruits of the palm Syagrus romanzoffiana in Southeastern Brazil

Palavras-chave: Protective mimicry; Social mimicry; Mixed schooling; Mulloidichthys martinicus; Haemulon chrysargyreum.

Ano: 2004

URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-06032004000200016

Small psittacids remain unrecorded as dispersal agents of palm fruits in Brazil. I record here the plain parakeet (Brotogeris tirica), an Atlantic forest endemic, feeding on and dispersing the fruits of the palm Syagrus romanzoffiana at Ubatuba, northern coast of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. The birds removed the fruit and carried it away from the mother-tree in about 40% of the feeding records. While perched on trees and shrubs of the understorey, the parakeets removed and ingested most of the mesocarp, dropping the partly consumed fruit. As the parakeets damaged no the embryo and may feed at a distance from the mother-tree, they act as primary dispersal agents. This is the first substantiated record of a small Neotropical psittacid as a stomatochorous...