Abstract
We present the first nesting information for the Tropeiro Seedeater (Sporophila beltoni), a newly described and poorly known Neotropical passerine endemic to southern Brazil. We observed a novel male biased behavior for nest site selection in the Tropeiro Seedeater based on seven events of pre-nesting display courtship. We describe the nest, eggs, nestlings, and fledglings based on 133 nests found over four breeding seasons (2007 to 2011). The nest is a cup-shaped structure made with dry grass inflorescences and spider webs. It is placed in low, forked branches of substrate shrubs and contains multiple attachment points. The eggs are typically white with dark spots or stripes, and are pyriform in shape. Average egg dimensions are 18.2 × 13.2 mm. Nestlings fledge after 10 days. We provide the key information for distinguishing the nest, eggs, nestlings and fledglings of S. beltoni from other sympatric Sporophila species.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bichinski T.A. 2011. Comportamento reprodutivo de Sporophila hypoxantha (Passeriformes: Emberizidae) no estado do Paraná. Atualidades Ornitológicas 163: 57–61.
BirdLife International 2017. Species factsheet: Sporophila beltoni. http://www.birdlife.org (Access on 26 September 2017).
Facchinetti C., Di Giacomo A. & Reboreda J.C. 2008. Parental care in Tawny-bellied (Sporophila hypoxantha) and Rusty-collared (S. collaris) Seedeaters. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 120: 879–883.
Fontana C.S. & Repenning M. 2014. Black-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila melanogaster). In: Schulemberg T.S. (ed.). Neotropical birds online. Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=627596
Francisco M.R. 2006. Breeding biology of the Double-collared Seedeater (Sporophila caerulescens). Wilson Journal of Ornithology 118: 85–90.
Franz I. & Fontana C.S. 2013. Breeding biology of the Tawny-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila hypoxantha) in south Brazilian upland and grasslands. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 125: 280–292.
Hansell M. 2000. Bird nest and construction behavior. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ralph C.J., Geupel G.R., Pyle P., Martin T.E., De Sante D.F. & Milá B. 1996. Manual de métodos de campo para el monitoreo de aves terrestres. Albany: Department of Agriculture.
Repenning M., Rovedder C.E. & Fontana C.S. 2010. Distribuição e biologia de aves nos campos de altitude do sul do Planalto Meridional Brasileiro. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 18: 283–306.
Repenning M. & Fontana C.S. 2013. A new species of Gray Seedeater (Emberizidae: Sporophila) from upland grassland of southern Brazil. Auk 130: 791–803.
Repenning M. & Fontana C.S. 2016. Breeding biology of the Tropeiro Seedeater (Sporophila beltoni). Auk 133: 484–496.
Rising J., Jaramillo A., Copete J.L., Madge S. & Ryan P. 2011. Family Emberizidae (buntings and New World sparrows), p. 492–709 In: del Hoyo J., Elliott A. & Christie D.A. (eds.). Handbook of the birds of the world, v. 16 (tanagers to New World blackbirds). Barcelona: Lynx Editions.
Roda M.Á. & López-Lanús B. 2008. The range of Rufous-rumped Seedeater Sporophila hypochroma extends to the Pampas region of Argentina, with the first nest of the species. Cotinga 30: 61–62.
Rovedder C.E. & Fontana C.S. 2012. Nest, nest placement, and eggs of Black-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila melanogaster) an endemic bird of Brazil. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 124: 173–176.
Simon J.E. & Pacheco S. 2005. On the standardization of nest descriptions of Neotropical birds. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 13: 143–154.
Smith F.B. 1975. Naturalist’s color guide. New York: The American Museum of Natural History.
The Plant List 2013. A working list of all plant species. http://www.theplantlist.org (Access on 06 September 2019).
Welty J.C. & Baptista L. 1988. The life of birds. New York: W.B. Sauders.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Repenning, M., Fontana, C.S. Nesting information for Tropeiro Seedeater (Sporophila beltoni), an endemic songbird from southern Brazil. Rev. Bras. Ornitol. 27, 164–168 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03544466
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03544466