Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 June 2021 | 13(7): 18936–18938

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5919.13.7.18936-18938  

#5919 | Received 27 March 2020 | Final received 11 May 2021 | Finally accepted 04 June 2021

 

 

Natural history notes on the highly threatened Pinto’s Chachalaca Ortalis remota (Aves: Cracidae)

 

Carlos Otávio Araujo Gussoni 1  & Marco Aurélio Galvão da Silva 2

 

1 Rua 12B, 621, Vila Indaiá, Rio Claro, SP, 13506-746, Brazil.

2 SAVE Brasil, R. Fernão Dias, 219 - casa 2 - Pinheiros, São Paulo - SP, 05427-000, Brazil.

1 cogussoni@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 marcosama@gmail.com

 

 

 

Editor: Reuven Yosef, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Eilat, Israel.  Date of publication: 26 June 2021 (online & print)

 

Citation: Gussoni, C.O.A. & M.A.G. da Silva (2021). Natural history notes on the highly threatened Pinto’s Chachalaca Ortalis remota (Aves: Cracidae). Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(7): 18936–18938. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5919.13.7.18936-18938

 

Copyright: © Gussoni & da Silva 2021. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.  JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

 

Funding: Fundação Grupo Boticário de Proteção à Natureza (1108_20172).

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the following people for helping us in different ways during our field work: Ana Carolina de Carvalho, André Natale, Charleston Peters, Ciro Albano, Cláudia Brasileiro, Cristine Prates, Dina Bessa, Elmir Rosa, Fábio Olmos, Guto Carvalho, José Ferreira Filho, Lucas Polezi, Luiz Rocha, Lys Pereira, Mr. Nelson (Conselho Municipal de Turismo de Orindiúva), Rafael Cassani, Rodrigo Agostinho and Rogério Machado. To Rodrigo Agostinho for identifying the cecropias. To Alice Reisfeld for translating the manuscript. To Paula Ribeiro Anunciação for elaborating the map and reviewing the manuscript. To the landowners in areas where O. remota occurs and their staff, for allowing access into the study areas: Mr. André (staff - Fazenda Estrela D’Alva, Icém), Cláudio Batista, Mr. Fernando (São José do Rio Preto), João Carlos Jacomino, José Luiz Polezi, Mr. Mário (São José do Rio Preto), Mr. Martinelli, Paulo Roberto de Lima, Mr. Silas (Fazenda Ponte Alta), Mr. Carlos, Mr. Leonardo and Mr. Marcos (Sítio São Luiz, São José do Rio Preto), Mr. Horácio, Ms. Zélia and Mr. Antônio (Córrego da Onça, São José do Rio Preto). To the entire SAVE Brasil team for the support during this project. To Fundação Grupo Boticário de Proteção à Natureza for funding this project (1108_20172). To Vítor Piacentini for helping with the species’ English name. To Thiago Vernaschi V. da Costa for reviewing parts of the manuscript.

 

 

 

The genus Ortalis (Cracidae) is endemic of the Americas and composed of 15 species (Billerman et al. 2020), generally found in pairs or small groups (Sigrist 2006).  They present a varied diet including fruits, leaves, seeds, flowers, and arthropods (Billerman et al. 2020).

Pinto’s Chachalaca (Ortalis remota Pinto, 1960; Aves: Galliformes: Cracidae) (Image 1) is one of the world’s rarest cracids, nowadays restricted to fewer than 20 municipalities in eastern Brazil.  It is threatened with extinction, listed nationally as “Critically Endangered” (Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade 2018), mainly due to poaching and habitat loss (Rego 2009).  It was described by Olivério Pinto as a subspecies of Ortalis guttata (Pinto 1960) based on a single specimen collected in Mato Grosso do Sul state and treated as a junior synonym of Ortalis guttata squamata by Vaurie (1965). However, recent reference works have considered it a valid taxon, either as a subspecies (e.g., Clements et al. 2019, Remsen et al. 2021) or full species (Silveira et al. 2017).  Knowledge about the species’ biology is limited, being the sole information available present in Silveira et al. (2017).  Therefore, most of the natural history aspects of the species remain virtually unknown.  The species is locally known as ‘guarda-faca’ (an onomatopoeic name which is a reference to the vocal duet of the species, according to locals from Guapiaçu: ‘Guarda a faca vovô; tá na cara que eu vou’), ‘jacuzinho’, ‘jacu-cigana’, ‘jacutinga’, and ‘jacupemba’.

Field campaigns to study the species were carried out from January to December 2018 (six to ten days each month, distributed in January, March, April, September, October, and December), during 43 days in 11 municipalities in the state of São Paulo (SP), Brazil (Image 2).  Searches for the species were conducted in 28 municipalities using playbacks at previously defined points distributed in the visited forest fragments with potential occurrence of the species (riparian forests) every 200m.  At each point, the species’ calls were played for 5 min, and then 5 min of listening (adapted from Marion 1974; Marion et al. 1981; Schmitz-Ornés 1999).  For each individual seen, information regarding group size, food items, foraging behavior, and breeding biology were noted.  Perches were classified by type (lianas, dry or green branches), inclination (vertical – 81° to 99°; horizontal – up to 10° inclination) and height in relation to the ground, also recording the portion of the branch in which the bird was perched (proximal, median or distal in relation to the trunk).

Group size.  Individuals were found mostly in pairs (average individuals per group= 2.03 ± 0.67; min= 1; max= 5; n= 54).

Food items.  On 14 March 2018, an individual was recorded feeding on the infructescence of Cecropia pachystachya Trec. (Urticaceae) in Nova Granada (SP).  In 48 seconds of observation, 12 pecks were recorded in at least four infructescences.  On 15 December 2018, an individual was seen feeding on Psidium guajava L. (Myrtaceae) fruits on the edge of the forest in Guaíra (SP).  In addition, in 15 November 2017, individuals were observed feeding on the infructescence of Cecropia pachystachya in Guapiaçu (SP).

Perches.  109 perching locations used by O. remota individuals were noted.  Of this total, 96 (88.07%) were branches (88 inclined and 8 horizontal) and 13 (11.93%) were liana aggregations.  The average inclination of the branches used as perches was 48.43 ± 20.19o (min= 10o; max= 80o) (n= 67).  The majority of perches used (67.4%) were green branches, with 32.55% of the records in dry branches and one encounter on the ground (n= 86).  The average height of the perches was 5.58 ± 2.6 m (min= 1 m; max= 12.5 m) (n= 109).  In half of the observations (52%), the species was seen using the median portion of the perches, while the proximal portion was used 33 times (44%) and the distal portion three times (n= 75).

Reproductive biology.  On 25 and 30 January 2018, four young individuals were found in two points (two in each) in the municipality of Guapiaçu (SP).  In addition, Ciro Albano and Cristine Prates (pers. comm.) found a subadult following two adults on 16 May 2018, in Nova Granada (SP).

The fact that the species is found preferably in pairs, but also in small groups, agrees with what is described for most species of the genus Ortalis (Sigrist 2006).  In addition, the two food items registered for the species are also part of the diet of other Ortalis.  Five species of the genus have already been recorded feeding on Cecropia infructescence (Del Hoyo & Kirwan 2020a,b,c,d; Kirwan et al. 2020) and O. cinereiceps have already been observed feeding on Psidium guajava fruits (Del Hoyo & Kirwan 2020a).

Information on reproductive biology of Ortalis is scarce and highly scattered in literature and the data presented here are the first for O. remota.  In Brazil, the breeding season varies significantly among species in the genus; however, most of the species of Ortalis have also been recorded breeding during the period that comprises the last and first months of the year (Billerman et al. 2020).

The data presented here about the perches utilized by the species are the first for the genus.  This kind of information, along with the data about diet, group size and breeding biology, is utterly important for the design of ex situ conservation initiatives and breeding the species in captivity, which is one of the conservation strategies suggested by Silveira et al. (2017) for O. remota.

Despite the new information obtained in our study, many aspects of species’ natural history remain poorly known and we encourage future work focusing on the biology of this highly threatened species.

 

For images - - click here

 

 

Reference

 

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