Birds from cerradão woodland, an overlooked forest of the Cerrado region, Brazil

O Cerrado ainda recebe pouca atenção no que diz respeito à ornitologia embora seja a única savana tropical do mundo considerada um hotspot de biodiversidade. O cerradão é uma das fisionomias menos conhecidas e mais desmatadas do bioma e poucos levantamentos avifaunísticos foram realizados nessas florestas. Para revisar os estudos sobre aves de cerradão e complementar os poucos inventários já existentes realizados nesse tipo florestal no estado de São Paulo, foi realizado um levantamento bibliográfico dos estudos publicados sobre aves de cerradão. Adicionalmente foi conduzido um levantamento das aves de um fragmento de cerradão de 314 ha localizado na região central do estado de São Paulo, Brasil, entre setembro de 2005 e dezembro de 2006 com a utilização de transecções lineares com raio ilimitado de detecção. de 95 estudos envolvendo aves de cerradão, apenas 17 (18%) discriminaram espécies registradas dentro desta fisionomia daquelas que obtiveram registros em outros ambientes de Cerrado. Exceto por um estudo, nenhuma outra investigação encontrou mais de 64 espécies de aves neste ambiente, resultado compartilhado com diversas regiões do Brasil e também da Bolívia. Diferenças no número de espécies entre cerradões não puderam ser atribuídas à degradação dos ambientes estudados ou tamanho de fragmento. Considerando os registros de cerradões no Brasil e na Bolívia, a compilação de dados acumulou 250 espécies distribuídas em 36 famílias e 15 ordens. Durante nossos trabalhos de campo em localidade do interior paulista foram registradas 48 espécies distribuídas em 20 famílias, incluindo o fruxu-do-cerradão (Neopelma pallescens), ameaçada em São Paulo, e o soldadinho (Antilophia galeata), quase ameaçada no estado e endêmica do Cerrado. Dentre as espécies mais abundantes no fragmento, nenhuma delas é ameaçada ou endêmica do bioma.

Two new genera and five new species of the feather mite subfamily Proctophyllodinae (Astigmata : Proctophyllodidae) from suboscine birds in Brazil

Two new genera and five new species of feather mites of the family Proctophyllodidae are described from passerine birds from Brazil: Tyranniphyllodes pitangi gen. n., sp. n. from Pitangus sulphuratus (Tyrannidae); Atrichophyllodes delalandi gen. n., sp. n. from Corythopis delalandi (Tyrannidae); A. mentalis gen. n., sp. n. from Dysithamnus mentalis (Thamnophilidae); Anisophyllodes candango sp. n. from Elaenia chiriquensis (Tyrannidae); and Platyacarus sittasomi sp. n. from Sittasomus griseicapillus (Dendrocolaptidae). The discovery of these taxa might give data for a better understanding of the evolution of the family Proctophyllodidae in general and the dispersion of these mites on passerines in South America in paricular.

BLOOD-CONSTITUENTS AND ELECTROPHORETIC PATTERNS IN ANTARCTIC BIRDS - PENGUINS AND SKUAS

1. A survey has been carried out on the blood constituents of penguins from the Pygoscellidae family, Pygoscellis antartica, P. papua and P. adeliae, and of skuas (Chataracta maccormicki).2. Glucose, non-protein nitrogen compounds, proteins, lipids and inorganic compounds and the electrophoretic patterns for hemoglobin, serum proteins and lipoproteins were studied.3. The values obtained for glucose partition in the blood, glycosylated hemoglobin and non-protein nitrogen compounds, are discussed.

AN INEXPENSIVE METHOD FOR CHROMOSOME PREPARATIONS FROM FEATHER PULP IN BIRDS, USING SHORT-TERM TREATMENT WITH COLCHICINE IN-VITRO, DEMONSTRATED ON AMAZONA-AMAZONICA (PSITTACIDAE)

In order to develop an efficient and low-cost technique for obtaining bird chromosome preparations, and to adapt the cytogenetic process of bird sexing for general use at zoos and breeding farms with the technical support of cytogenetics laboratories, we tested variants of the technique described by Giannoni et al. (Genet. Sel. Evol. 23: 123-125, 1991), based on the utilization of cellular material from growing feather pulp cultured in complete medium for six hours. Hanks' saline solution gave satisfactory performance as a substitute for complete medium, with no need to use PHA, serum of collagenase, when utilized in material obtained from feather pulp of Amazona amazonica (Psittacidae).

Interspecies variation in orbital bone structure of psittaciform birds (with emphasis on Psittacidae)

Objectives: This text presents an anatomical study of the normal bony orbital structure of a sample of different bird species belonging to the order Psittaciformes.Procedures: the bony anatomy of Psittaciformes' skulls was examined and described using cadavers of birds that were presented already dead to the Federal University of Parana, Brazil or had been euthanized for humane reasons. Dissections of the orbital cavity were performed under 2-4 x magnification, and descriptions of the orbital bones were made from observations of macerated skulls that had been boiled and cleaned. The present paper discusses the main features of the bony orbit of psittaciform birds, describing known anatomical information but also bringing new information, mainly concerning species differences that might help not only veterinary anatomists but also zoologists, clinicians, researchers, and students of veterinary ophthalmology to better comprehend this order of birds.Results and conclusions: Variations in the anatomic conformation of the bony elements of the orbit were observed in different species of Psittaciformes. Based on these differences, Psittaciformes were classified into two different groups. The first group of Psittaciformes shows an enclosed (complete) bony orbit formed by the junction of the orbital with the postorbital processes, creating a suborbital arch. The second group of Psittaciformes essentially lacked a suborbital arch, presenting an open (incomplete) bony orbit, typical of most modern birds. In the latter group, orbital and postorbital processes are present.

Utilization of epiphytes by birds in a Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Epiphytes constitute a great part of the vegetation biomass in Neotropical forests, offering a large variety of resources to birds. Despite their structural and ecological importance, few studies investigated the use of epiphytes by birds in the Neotropical region. We studied the bird species that exploit vascular epiphytes (and hemi-epiphytes) in an Atlantic forest site in southeastern Brazil. The resources exploited, seasonal variation in the use of epiphytes, the frequency of foraging and selectivity in epiphytes, and the relationship between the use of epiphytes and the participation in mixed-species bird flocks were investigated. After 360 h of observations along trails crossing the forest, 24 bird species (12 families) were recorded in a total of 74 events of epiphyte exploitation. Thamnophilidae (four species), Trochiliclae, Thraupidae and Furnariidae (three species) were the richest bird families in our sample, while Furnariidae and Dendrocolaptidae were the more frequently recorded families. Plants in the Bromeliaceae and Araceae families were the most abundant and more frequently exploited epiphytes. Nectar, water, nest material and invertebrates were the most frequently exploited resources, mainly from Bromeliaceae. None of the species for which we had enough data revealed to be a frequent user of epiphytes for foraging or selective to any epiphyte group. The White-eyed Foliage-gleaner (Automolus leucophthalmus; Furnariidae), a common participant of understory mixed-species flocks, exploited epiphytes more frequently when associated with mixed-species flocks. The utilization of epiphytes was opportunistic for most of the bird species recorded and occurred throughout the year with no seasonal variation.

A cooperative game theory analysis for transmission loss allocation

This paper presents an analysis and discussion, based on cooperative game theory, for the allocation of the cost of losses to generators and demands in transmission systems. We construct a cooperative game theory model in which the players are represented by equivalent bilateral exchanges and we search for a unique loss allocation solution, the Core. Other solution concepts, such as the Shapley Value, the Bilateral Shapley Value and the Kernel are also explored. Our main objective is to illustrate why is not possible to find an optimal solution for allocating the cost of losses to the users of a network. Results and relevant conclusions are presented for a 4-bus system and a 14-bus system. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

ATTENDANCE and CO-OCCURRENCE of BIRDS FOLLOWING ARMY ANTS IN THE ATLANTIC RAIN FOREST

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)