BREEDING PHENOLOGY AND NEW HOSTS LIST OF THE BLACK-HEADED DUCK (HETERONETTA ATRICAPILLA) IN ARGENTINA

CABRERA, M. BELÉN; MONTALTI, DIEGO; SEGURA, LUCIANO N.

WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY

WILSON ORNITHOLOGICAL SOC

Lugar: Tuckson, Arizona; Año: 2017 vol. 129 p. 311 - 316

1559-4491

The Black-headed Duck (Heteronetta atricapilla) is the unique interspecific brood parasite among birds where the host species provides parental care for incubation only. Despite this unique and interesting system, there are few studies on this species biology and the list of hosts remains incomplete. We present information about breeding phenology of the Black-headed Duck and an updated list of hosts obtained from a comprehensive review of egg collections deposited in the most important natural science museums of Argentina. We include five new hosts to the list that have not been mentioned previously: Great Grebe (Podiceps major), Maguari Stork (Ciconia maguari), White-cheeked Pintail (Anas bahamensis), South American Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) and Long-winged Harrier (Circus buffoni). We found that solitary nesting host species were more parasitized earlier during the breeding season than colonial nesting ones. The Black-headed Duck has an extended breeding season in central Argentina (August to February) as it is able to use a variety of hosts that breed in different times during the breeding season. With this contribution, the new list rises to 23 documented hosts of the Black-headed Duck belonging to 8 different waterfowl orders.