Breeding of the Spot-billed Toucanet (Selenidera maculirostris) in the Wild

The Spot-billed Toucanet (Selenidera maculirostris) is an endemic member of the Ramphastidae occurring in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. There is anecdotal literature about this species breeding in the wild, but no data are available about parental behavior and nest morphometry. We describe observations of parental behavior of the Spot-billed Toucanet including measurements of one nest in Ilha do Cardoso State Park, São Paulo, Brazil. The nest was inside a hollow of a Lauraceae tree with the entrance hidden by leaves of Aechmea sp. (Bromeliaceae). The Spot-billed Toucanet, based on our observations and review of the literature, nests in tree cavities between 2 and 7 to above ground and both parents provision the nestlings. Received 13 July 2008. Accepted 7 June 2009.

Karyotypic characterization of Ramphastidae (Piciformes, Aves)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Frugivory by toucans (Ramphastidae) at two altitudes in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil

Toucans are prominent components of the tropical American avifauna. Although these birds are very conspicuous, there are few ecological studies focusing on them. In this study, the diets of four sympatric toucans (Ramphastos vitellinus, R. dicolorus, Selenidera maculirostris, and Baillonius bailloni) were assessed by recording feeding bouts at two altitudes in the Atlantic Forest of southeast Brazil. Our results show that toucans are predominantly frugivorous birds (96.5% of the 289 feeding bouts were on fruits). In the lowlands (70 m elev.), only fruits (48 species, 27 families) were recorded, while in the highlands (700 m elev.), toucans were observed feeding on fruits (25 species, 22 families), flowers, leaves, and insects. Non-fruit items were recorded only in the highlands, most of them eaten by B. bailloni. Cecropia glaziovii and Euterpe edulis, two abundant plants in the highland and lowland sites, respectively, and Virola oleifera, a plant that produces lipid-rich arillate fruits, were eaten heavily by the toucans. The number of feeding bouts recorded for R. vitellinus in the lowlands was positively correlated with lipid content of the fruits eaten. The diameters of fruits eaten by toucans varied greatly (range = 0.4-25.0 mm). While the large Ramphastos species not only ate tiny fruits (e.g., Hyeronima alchorneoides) but also large ones (e.g., Virola gardneri), the toucanets ate piecemeal the large fruits that exceeded their gape width, suggesting that gape size did not limit the use of any fruit by the toucans at our study sites.

Limitações bióticas afetando o recrutamento da palmeira Euterpe edulis em uma ilha continental da Mata Atlântica

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Sexual dimorphism in Ramphastos toco and Ramphastos dicolorus (Piciformes, Aves)

Phenotypic sexual dimorphism seems to be rare in the Ramphastidae family, except in Pteroglossus viridis and in the genus Selenidera. Many breeders of wild birds believe that specimens of Ramphastos toco can be sexed using bill characteristics. In this study, various discriminant phenotypic variables were analyzed in birds which were sexed cytogenetically. Fifty-one specimens of R. toco and 20 R. dicolorus were studied. The statistically significant parameters which served to distinguish the sex in these species were the length of the culmen and tomium, length of the lower corneous beak and the cloaca. Using these parameters, capitive bird breeders can determine sex of R. toco specimens by phenotypic analysis and form breeding couples more quickly.