Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T21:10:23.858Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Avian attendance and foraging at army-ant swarms in the tropical rain forest of Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Rosamond Coates-Estrada  and
Alejandro Estrada
Rosamond Coates-Estrada
Affiliation:
Estación de Biología Los Tuxtlas, Instituto de Biología-UNAM, Apartado Postal 176, San Andrés TuxtlaVeracruz, México
Alejandro Estrada
Affiliation:
Estación de Biología Los Tuxtlas, Instituto de Biología-UNAM, Apartado Postal 176, San Andrés TuxtlaVeracruz, México
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Foraging and attendance of birds at army-ant swarm raids were studied in the tropical rain forest of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Sixty-eight raiding swarms were intercepted over a four-year period of which 57% were Eciton burchelli and 43% Labidus praedator. A total of 461 birds (37 species/12 families) were recorded at swarms of E. burchelli and 208 birds (34 species/10 families) were recorded at L. praedator swarms. The mean number of bird species detected per swarm was 7.2 at E. burchelli raids and 5.6 at L. praedator raids. Red-throated ant-tanagers (Habia fuscicauda) were most frequently seen at the swarms of both army-ant species. Other important species were the golden-crowned warbler (Basileuterus culicivorus), the white-breasted wood wren (Henicorhina leucosticta) and the Kentucky warbler (Oporornis formosus). Swarms of both army-ant species were active year-round. Birds weighing between 20 and 40 g dominated perches closest to the ground and the central zone of the swarms, richest in animal prey. Birds weighing less than 20 g occupied higher perches and tended to forage in more peripheral zones. At Los Tuxtlas raiding swarms of army ants are important in the foraging ecology of 44 bird species, including 12 North American migrants.

Resumen

La asistencia y caza de artropodos por aves en oleadas de hormigas marabunta fué estudiada en la selva tropical Uuviosa de Los Tuxtlas, México. Sesenta y ocho oleadas fueron interceptadas durante un periodo de cuatro anos. De estas el 57% pertenecian a la especies Eciton burchelli y el 43% a Labidus praedator. Un total de 461 aves (37 especies/12 familias) se registraron en la oleadas de E. burchelli y 208 aves (34 especies/10 familias) se registraron en la oleadas de L. praedator. El número medio de especies registrada por oleada fué de 7.2 ± 1.7 para E. burchelli y de 5.6 ±2.1 para L. praedator. La especie con el mayor índice de asistencia a las oleadas de ambas especies de hormiga marabunta fué Habia fuscicauda. Otras especies importantes fueron Basileuterus culicivorus, Henicorhina leucosticta y Oporomis formosus. Las oleadas de ambas especies de hormigas estuvieron activas en todos los meses del año y la asistencia de las aves a las oleadas es predecible en cada mes. Las aves que pesaron entre 20 y 40 gr dominaron las perchas verticales más cercanas al suelo y la zona central de las oleadas donde existe una mayor concentración de artropodos. En la selva de Los Tuxtlas las oleadas de hormigas marabunta son un elemento importante en la ecologi'a del forrajeo de 44 especies de aves, incluyendo 12 migratorias de Norte America.

Keywords

army-antsbirdsforagingMexicotropical rain forest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , August 1989 , pp. 281 - 292
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

A.O.U., 1983. American Ornithologists' Union Checklist of North American Birds. 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.Google Scholar
Coates-Estrada, R. & Estrada, A. 1986. Fruiting and frugivores at a strangler fig in the tropical rain forest of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Journal of Tropical Ecology 2:349–357.Google Scholar
Coates-Estrada, R. & Estrada, A. 1988. Frugivory and seed dispersal in Cymbopetalum baillonii (Annonaceae) at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Journal of Tropical Ecology 4:157–171.Google Scholar
Coates-Estrada, R., Estrada, A., Pashley, D. & Barrow, W. 1985. Lista de las Aues de la Estacion de Biologia Los Tuxtlas. Instituto de Biologia, Direccion General de Publicaciones de la Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, D. F.41 pp.Google Scholar
Estrada, A. & Coates-Estrada, R. 1983. Rain forest in Mexico: research and conservation at Los Tuxtlas. Oryx 17:201–204.Google Scholar
Estrada, A. & Coates-Estrada, R. 1988. Tropical rain forest conversion and perspectives in the conservation of wild primates (Alouatta and Ateles) in Mexico. American Journal of Primatology 14:315–327.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Estrada, A., Coates-Estrada, R. & Martinez-Ramos, M. 1985. La Estacion de Biologia Tropical ‘Los Tuxtlas’: un recurso para el estudio y conservacion de las selvas del tropico humedo. Pp. 379–399 in Gomez-Pompa, A. & del Amo, S. (eds). Investigaciones sobre la regeneracion de selvas altas en Veracruz, Mexico. Instituto Nacional Sobre Recursos Bioticos. Editorial Alhambra Mexicana, S.A. de C.V., Mexico. D.F.421 pp.Google Scholar
Estrada, A., Coates-Estrada, R. & Vazquez-Yanes, C. 1984. Observations on fruiting and dispersers of Cecropia obtusifolia at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Biotropica 16:315–318.Google Scholar
Franks, N. 1982. Ecology and population regulation in the army ant Eciton burchelli. Pp. 389–395 in Leigh, E. G. JrRand, S. & Windsor, D. W. (eds). The ecology of a tropical forest. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Franks, N. & Bossert, W. 1983. Swarm raiding army ants and the patchiness and diversity of a tropical leaf litter ant community. Pp. 151–163 in Sutton, S. L., Chadwick, A. C. & Whitmore, T. C. (eds). The tropical rain forest. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, England.Google Scholar
Franks, N. & Fletcher, C. 1983. Spatial patterns in army ant foraging and migration: Eciton bur chelli on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 12:261–270.Google Scholar
Garcia-Aldrete, A. 1986. Fluctuationes estacionales de los artropodos de la hojarasca de la selva alta perennifolia en Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz. Abstract. XXI National Congress of Entomology, Monterrey, Mexico.Google Scholar
Green, E., Wilcove, D. & Mcfarland, M. 1984. Observations on birds at an army ant swarm in Guerrero, Mexico. Condor 86:92–93.Google Scholar
Hardy, J. W. 1974. Jays as army ant followers. Condor 76:102–103.Google Scholar
Lovejoy, T. E., Bierregaard, R. O., Rylands, A. B., Malcolm, J. R., Quintela, C. E., Harper, L. H., Brown, K. S., Powell, A. H., Lowell, G. V. N., Schubart, H. O. R. & Hays, M. B. 1986. Edge and other effects of isolation on Amazon forest fragments. Pp. 57–289 in Soule, M. E. (ed:). Conservation biology: the science of scarcity and diversity. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, Mass. 584 pp.Google Scholar
Miranda, F. & Hernandez, E. 1963. Los tipos de vegetacion de Mexico y su clasificacion. Bol. Soc. Bot. Mex. 29:29–129.Google Scholar
Mays, N. M. 1985. Ants and the foraging behavior of the collared forest-falcon. Wilson Bull 97:231–232.Google Scholar
Sutton, M. G. 1951. Birds and an ant army in southern Tamaulipas. Condor 53:16–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willis, E. O. 1960. A study of the foraging behavior of two species of ant tanagers. Auk 77:151–170.Google Scholar
Willis, E. O. 1966. The role of migrant birds at swarms of army ants. Living Bird 5:187–231.Google Scholar
Willis, E. O. 1967. The behavior of bicolored antbirds. University of California Publications in Zoology 79:1–127.Google Scholar
Willis, E. O. & Oniki., Y. 1978. Birds and army ants. Annual Review of Ecology & Systematics 9:243–264.Google Scholar