Ecologia de Lepidocolaptes wagleri (spix, 1824) (aves: Dendroco laptidae) em uma floresta tropical seca, Norte de Minas Gerais

Abstract

Seasonal environments are known to exhibit periods of resource scarcity and environ mental changes, such as the decrease of canopy cover, both associated with the rainfall. In order to supplement their energy demand, birds that live in these environments must introduce changes in their foraging activity and in their diet. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the foraging behavior and diet of the insectivorous and stem climber bird Lepidocolaptes wagleri (Passeriformes: Dendrocolaptidae) are influ enced by seasonality. The study was conducted in the Mata Seca- MG State Park, where observations of the behavior were made in dry and rainy seasons and the diet was assessed using samples of stomach contents of individuals captured with mist net. The study of the foraging behavior of the species was done from 29 observation sessions, in a sampling effort of 126 hours. Were obtained 29 observation sessions, in a sampling effort of 126 hours, from which was describe the foraging behavior of the specie. Results showed that the maneuvers frequency of prey capture and foraging sites used by L. wagleri did not vary between the seasons, which can be associated with high behavioral specialization characteristic of this species. According to other studies, the participation of the Wood creeper-wagler in mixed flocks was a frequent event and not dependent of the sampling period. Among the 17 samples of stomach contents obtained, 13 samples belonging to the dry season and 4 to the rainy season, there were possible to identify 11 categories of food items. Refuting the proposed predictions, there were no differences in the richness and the composition of food items consumed in each season. This result can be explained based on food restriction imposed by reliance on vertical perches. Another fact to this is that L. wagleri find the same kinds of prey in the trunks of trees in both seasons. In the other hand, the abundance of items found in the diet was statistically greater in the dry season, period in which the consumption of social insects is increased. Overall, the results suggest that L. wagleri has limited behavioral plasticity in contrast to the relatively di verse diet. This study was the first one that looked into the parameters of foraging behav ior and diet of the Woodcreeper-wagler and the suggestion, for further work, is to perform the sampling of spatio-temporal dynamics of stem arthropod in order to make direct cor relations between foraging behavior and the diet of the species.