Cavity-tree use and frequency of response to playback by the Tropical Screech-Owl in northwestern Argentina

Abstract

The Tropical Screech-Owl (Megascops choliba) is a nocturnal raptor with a wide distribution across the Neotropics, which uses cavity trees as nesting and roosting sites. Our objectives were to address cavity use by the Tropical Screech-Owl in the piedmont forest of Argentina and to evaluate if logging affects the availability of suitable cavities for nesting and roosting and the frequency of response of the species to playback. The Tropical Screech-Owl used trees with DBH values > 46 cm of three tree species (69% Calycophyllum multiflorum, 15% Phyllostylon rhamnoides, and 8% Cedrela angustifolia), besides standing dead trees (8%). The density of suitable cavities was significantly lower in logged forests than in the control site. The frequency of response of the species to playback was significantly lower at one logged site. Our results can contribute to delineate sustainable forest management to ensure the conservation of this owl in logged forest.

The impact of timber harvesting on nest site availability for the Cape Parrot Poicephalus robustus in native Southern Mistbelt forests of the Eastern Cape, South Africa

“…Given that tree characteristics such as species, decay stage affect nest site selection and nestling survival for a broad range of cavity-nesting birds (e.g. Mahon and Martin 2006, Schaaf et al 2019), forest management which aims to balance timber harvesting with the persistence of cavity-nesting populations should focus on appropriate tree selection. While market demand for indigenous timber has declined (no trees have been harvested in the region since 2017), sustainable resource use remains a central management goal for these forests.…”

“…data), to be an artefact of selective harvesting practices, supported by the relatively high abundance of these stems recorded in mistbelt forests in KwaZulu-Natal, where harvesting has not occurred for the past 80 years (Downs and Symes 2004). Harvest-mediated modifications to the population structure of dead and decaying trees represents a disruption to the decay process, which stands to negatively affect the availability of suitable cavities (Cockle et al 2010, Politi et al 2010, Schaaf et al 2019). For example, Paillet et al (2017) found that the decay process following tree death was the main mechanism in tree microhabitat production.…”

Responses of functional traits in cavity-nesting birds to logging in subtropical and temperate forests of the Americas

“…size, cavity depth, tree species) 14 , 21 . For example, large secondary cavity-nesting bird species (such as ducks, parrots and toucans) depend on trees with an appropriate entrance size and depth for nesting, which can be scarce or absent in logged forests 14 , 22 , 23 . For woodpeckers, habitat alteration can lead to difficulties in the use of substrates suitable for excavation 24 – 26 and it can reduce the abundance of these birds 26 , 27 .…”