Acrobatornis fonsecai (Passeriformes: Furnariidae) is a canopy-dwelling bird endemic to the Atlantic Forest of southern Bahia, Brazil, and closely associated with shaded cacao agroforestry systems (cabruca). The species is currently classified as Vulnerable due to habitat loss and degradation. Here, we report the occurrence and nesting of A. fonsecai within a highly anthropomorphized environment, the campus of the State University of Santa Cruz (UESC), Ilhéus, Bahia. Between 2024 and 2025, we recorded five nests built in two individuals of Schizolobium parahyba, as well as five A. fonsecai foraging in a mixed-species flock in a cabruca area. This represents the first documented record of nesting by the species on a university campus. Our findings expand current knowledge of the species’ reproductive ecology and reinforce that human-modified landscapes containing forest remnants and agroforestry systems play a relevant role in the persistence of threatened Atlantic Forest birds.
Flavism is a rare chromatic anomaly characterized by the partial reduction or absence of eumelanin, the pigment responsible for dark tones in plumage, resulting in individuals with predominantly yellowish coloration. Unlike albinism and leucism, this condition does not completely disrupt melanin production, allowing for the partial maintenance of other pigments. This study reports the first documented record of flavism in a free-ranging cactus parakeet (Eupsittula cactorum) in Brazil. The record was made on February 27, 2025, in the municipality of Santa Luzia, Paraíba, in an area of arboreal Caatinga near Pico do Yayu. During the observation, a flock of six individuals was spotted in flight, and it was subsequently possible to record a specimen with predominantly yellow plumage, displaying only small green areas distributed across its body. The individual was photographed in its natural environment alongside other members of the flock, demonstrating apparently normal behavior. In addition to describing the record, this study presents a review of chromatic anomalies in birds and highlights previous records of similar mutations in other psittacines. A survey was also conducted on the WikiAves platform, which identified 16 species of Psittacidae with records of chromatic alterations, underscoring the relevance of citizen science in expanding knowledge about these occurrences. This record expands the knowledge of Caatinga biodiversity and contributes to the understanding of chromatic variations in wild birds.
The natural history of capuchino seedeaters (Sporophila spp.), a group largely restricted to southern South America, has received increasing attention in recent years, mainly due to the urgent need to generate biological information to support conservation strategies in rapidly disappearing grassland ecosystems. Most available studies have been conducted in the Pampas of Brazil and Argentina and in the Cerrado of central Brazil. However, important gaps remain regarding population-level variation in life-history traits, despite its potential relevance for conservation planning. The pearly-bellied seedeater (Sporophila pileata), recently split from the copper seedeater (S. bouvreuil), represents an excellent model for investigating population differences, given its wide and disjunct distribution and its partial overlap with other forms formerly included within S. bouvreuil. While basic breeding information is available for a population breeding in the Cerrado, no data exist for the disjunct population that breeds in the southern Brazilian grasslands of South America, one of the most threatened ecosystems in the Southern Hemisphere. Here we describe nest characteristics, eggs, nestlings, and breeding parameters of S. pileata, including breeding success, clutch size, hatching rate, annual nestling production, and nestling sex ratio, based on monitoring of 73 nests during the 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 breeding seasons in southern Brazil. We compare our estimates of breeding success with those reported for other Sporophila species breeding in southern Brazilian grasslands and with previous results for S. pileata from the Cerrado Biome. Survival estimates differed according to the analytical method employed, and we found comparatively low hatching rates in the studied population. Our results highlight marked population-level differences in breeding performance and reinforce the importance of incorporating population-specific information into conservation strategies, rather than focusing exclusively on species-level assessments. For grassland conservation in the Pampas, we emphasize the need to maintain structurally and floristically suitable grasslands and to promote large areas under sustainable-use protected areas encompassing key breeding sites of this species.
Although Asio species exhibit marked variation in fly-and-forage strategies, no studies have examined the evolutionary morphological adaptations of these behaviors, and their taxonomic implications. Thus, we performed morphometric analyses of 12 postcranial skeletal elements across five Asio species to address the evolution of fly-and-forage behavior and taxonomy. Principal Component Analysis explained 94
The biogeographical province known as the Rondônia Center of Endemism is one of the most threatened regions in the Brazilian Amazon. Here we present a comprehensive assessment of a bird community within this region — that of the Rio Cautário State Extractive Reserve, addressing a major knowledge gap about this Center of Endemism. The reserve lies in the southwestern part of the state wherewe have carrying out bird inventories since 2020 using a combination of direct active searches coupled with passive acoustic monitoring and camera trapping techniques. During our field inventory, we recorded 516 bird species distributed in 73 families. Our avifaunal survey of the reserve represents the most extensive inventory for any site in this region of Amazonia and includes endemic taxa from the Rondônia Center, as well as species threatened with global extinction (nine globally threatened species). This diverse assemblage also includes species vulnerable to hunting and forest-dependent species sensitive to forest loss and fragmentation. These findings underscore the value of using mixed methods in documenting super species-rich avian assemblages.
