Nesting success and productivity of Tucuman Parrots in high-altitude forests of Argentina: do they differ from lowland Amazona parrots?

RIVERA LUIS OSVALDO; POLITI NATALIA; BUCHER ENRIQUE H.; PIDGEON ANNA

EMU

CSIRO PUBLISHING

Lugar: Collingwood; Año: 2014 vol. 114 p. 41 - 49

0158-4197

Most of our knowledge about wild parrot reproduction comes from studies of tropical lowland species, with few studies addressing species of high altitude forests. The Tucuman Parrot (Amazona tucumana) is restricted to the cloud forests (1400 to 2200 m a.s.l.) of southeastern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina.We studied the reproductive biology of Tucuman Parrot in northwestern Argentina from 2004 to 2009. We obtained data on reproductive output for 86 nests and on causes of mortality for 94 nests. Mean clutch size was 3.6 ± 1.0 eggs per nest. Hatching success was 0.77±0.17 of eggs laid that hatch. Fledging success was 0.83±0.13 of nestlings that fledge. Theoverall mean number of fledglings per egg-laying female was 2.3 ± 0.8 per year. Overall finite nest success was 0.53±0.27, and  chick finite nest success was 0.74±0.22. We did notfind evidence of any difference in reproductive rate between the Tucuman Parrot and other Amazona sppfrom lowlands. Tucuman Parrot productivity and nest success was not consistent among years, with high values in some years and low values in other years.This was probably related to fruiting events of Podocarpus parlatorei, a critical food item.The main causes of nest failure were predation (16%) and abandonment (12%). Our results suggest that for a number of Amazona species in lowland habitats, predation and poachingmay be the main limiting factors whereas climatic factors (e.g., temperature, rainfall) and food availability may contribute most to nest  failure at higher altitude