First observation of infanticide and cannibalism in nest of chimango caracara (Milvago chimango)

CLAUDINA SOLARO; JOSÉ HERNÁN SARASOLA

JOURNAL OF RAPTOR RESEARCH

RAPTOR RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC

Lugar: Lawrence, Kansas; Año: 2012 vol. 46 p. 412 - 413

0892-1016

Infanticide and cannibalism are behaviors exhibited between individuals of the same species. While infanticide is aggressive behavior in which a mature animal kills young offspring, cannibalism is a feeding behavior exhibited by genetically unrelated individuals of the same species. Here, we report the first case of filial infanticide followed by filial cannibalism in the Chimango Caracara (Milvago chimango), a common but little studied raptor species that is well adapted to human environments and is often observed in urban areas. We monitored the chimango nest during the austral summer 2010-2011 in La Pampa province, Argentina. On 25 February at 0730 H, the marked female entered the nest, attacked and killed both nestlings. She remained in the nest until 0802 H, but did not feed on the dead nestlings. The marked adult male arrived at the nest at 0809Hwith food in its bill. After a few minutes, the male began feeding on the prey it had brought and also on the dead nestlings. Between 0826 H and 1315 H, the female Chimango Caracara returned to the nest on four occasions and took the remains of the dead nestlings out of the nest. After his first visit, the male Chimango Caracara returned to the nest on two other occasions between 1002 H and 1604 H. That was the last time the parents were recorded, and no other Chimango Caracaras were recorded in the nest until the video equip- ment was removed at 1848 H on 2 March. To our knowledge ours is the first case, for a raptor species, of an entire brood lost by infanticide with brood size larger than one nestling.