Effects of mixed species flocking and forest fragmentation in feeding efficiency of birds in the Yungas foothill, Argentina

MANGINI GABRIELA GISELLE; GANDOY FACUNDO; ARETA JUAN IGNACIO

Congreso; Congreso de ornitologia neotropical; 2015

sociedad de ornitologia neotropical

Effects of mixed species flocking and forest fragmentation in feeding efficiency of birds in the Yungas foothill, ArgentinaMangini Giselle₁, Gandoy Facundo Ariel₂, Areta Juan Ignacio₃₁₂₃ Ibigeo-Conicet, Rosario de Lerma, SaltaKeywords: piedmont; interspecific relationship; foraging behaviorMajor area: Behavior; Subarea1: Community ecology ; Subarea2:interpecific relationsParticipation in mixed species flocks may help increase feeding efficiency (number of attacks/time) of birds by finding more places to feed, knowing recently depleted areas, benefiting from flushing insects, and increasing predation avoidance. Birds in yungas foothill live in a fragmented landscape. Forest fragments could contain limited food in comparison to continuous forest. We compared feeding efficiency and search rate (number of search behaviors/time) of three species in foothill forest, Salta, Argentina: Parula pitiayumi, Thraupis sayaca and Arremon flavirostris. Five surveys were conducted through 7 months recording foraging behavior. Ratios of search and attack trough time were compared in two social situations (inside/outside mixed-species flocks) and at two landscape configurations (forest fragment/continuous forest). Parula pitiayumi and Thraupis sayaca increased their feeding efficiency when participating in mixed flocks inside forest fragments (Kruskal Wallis; P-values