Parrot Behavior Peruvian Clay Lick
Parrot Behavior Peruvian Clay: We documented the behavior of 13 parrot species at a geophagy site along the Tambopata River in southeastern Peru. These species use the lick in one or more multi-species aggregations composed predominantly
SUMMARY:
Parrot Behavior Peruvian Clay: We documented the behavior of 13 parrot species at a geophagy site along the Tambopata River in southeastern Peru. These species use the lick in one or more multi-species aggregations composed predominantly
Parrot Behavior Peruvian Clay Lick
Parrot Behavior Peruvian Clay Lick- Amazonia Peru tambopata Rainforest(1) large parrots and small macaws (81% of lick use), (2) large macaws (5%), or (3) parakeets and small parrots (5%). Monospecific flocks accounted for only 8% of lick use and lone individuals ,1% of lick use. The multi-species aggregations sorted by body size and were generally composed of species with similar
coloration suggesting that group composition was driven by a mix of competition and predation. Three species regularly used the lick in monospecific groups and these had the largest group sizes away from the lick,
suggesting a causal relationship between intraspecific sociality and lick use in monospecific groups. All groups were wary when approaching the lick, probably due to the risk from landslides and predators. We
suggest that clay lick use strategies are molded by predation risk and competition acting on a suite of species with varying body size, coloration, and gregariousness (Tambopata Macaw Clay Lick).
Chuncho Macaw Clay Lick – Geophagy Parrot Behavior Peruvian Clay Lick.
the intentional consumption of soil, has been documented for a wide range of mostly herbivorous mammals, reptiles, and birds (Sokol 1971, Klaus and Schmid 1998, Diamond et al.1999, Brightsmith 2004).
Hundreds of birds (up to 17 species) gather daily at river-edge ‘clay licks’ to consume soil throughout the western Amazon Basin (Emmons and Stark 1979, Burger and Gochfeld 2003, Brightsmith 2004).
The birds, mostly psittacines, apparently consume soil for its high concentration of sodium (Brightsmith and Aramburu´ 2004, Brightsmith et al. 2008), but may also receive protection from dietary toxins (Gilardi et al.
1999) Chuncho Lodge. Aggregations of birds which use clay licks vary greatly in species composition and patterns of lick use, and much of this variation remains unexplained (Burger and Gochfeld 2003, Brightsmith 2004, Brightsmith and Aramburu´ 2004, Lee et al. 2009) chuncho macaws clay lick tambopata.
DETAILED ITINERARY:
Parrot Behavior Peruvian Clay
Parrot Behavior Peruvian Clay – Chuncho Observations suggest the birds’ behavior at clay licks has been molded by predation and competition, but few detailed studies have been conducted (Burger and Gochfeld 2003, Brightsmith 2004, Brightsmith and Aramburu´ 2004). Social forces such as information exchange, search for mates, and parental care favor group
formation (Ward and Zahavi 1973, Wright et al. 2003). However, there are many costs to group membership including competition for resources (Grand and Dill 1999, Krause and Ruxton 2002) and disease transmission
(Hoare et al. 2000). Clay licks and other geophagy sites provide good opportunities to study mixed species aggregations. We studied the behavior of parrots using a large clay lick along the upper Tambopata River in
Southeastern Peru in an effort to document lick use strategies for comparison with research at other sites in the region (Burger and Gochfeld 2003) chuncho macaws clay lick tambopata.
METHODS DE TAMBOPATA – CHUNCHO MACAW CLAY LICK:
Parrot Behavior Peruvian Clay Lick – Study Area.—Tambopata Research Center (13u 089 S, 69u 369 W) is in the Department of Madre de Dios in southeastern Peru in the Tambopata National Reserve (275,000 ha) near Bahuaja Sonene National Park (1,091,000
ha). The area is tropical moist forest near the boundary with subtropical wet forest. The elevation is 250 m asl with 3,200 mm of rain per year and a wet season from October to March (Tosi 1960, Brightsmith 2004). The area
contains a mix of mature floodplain forest, successional floodplain forest, Mauritia flexuosa palm swamps, and upland forest (Foster et al. 1994) chuncho macaw clay lick tambopata.
The clay lick studied was a 500-m long, 25–30 m high, cliff on the right bank (west side) of the upper Tambopata River – Chuncho -Parrot Behavior Peruvian Clay Lick .
The lick was apparently formed by the river’s erosion of recently uplifted Tertiary age alluvial sediments (Ra¨sa¨nen and Salo 1990, Foster et al. 1994, Ra¨sa¨nen and Linna 1995). It consists of two large exposed areas ,150 m in length
on the south end and 200 m in length on the north end. The two are separated by a landslide of ,150 m in width chuncho macaws clay lick tambopata. The south end contains a clay layer ,15–17 m high, topped by a band of sand
and cobble about 5 m thick. The north end has clay about 8 m high topped by 8 m of sand and cobble – chuncho macaws.
The soils of the clay layer are rich in high cation exchange capacity clays with high sodium levels (Gilardi et al. 1999, Brightsmith et al. 2008) chuncho macaws clay lick tambopata. The slope of the lick face ranges from moderate (,30u) to nearly vertical (80u).