Diet of Ornate Hawk-Eagle (Spizaetus ornatus)

Abstract

The Ornate Hawk-Eagle (Spizaetus ornatus) is a top predator and inhabits mainly preserved forests. It occurs from Mexico to Argentina and throughout Brazil, where it is threatened by extinction. It hunts birds, mammals and reptiles, picking up both on the ground and on the branches in the forest. Here we report data on a pair and one young individual of this species registered in the southeast of Minas Gerais state, eastern portion of the Espinhaço Range, Brazil. In addition, a literature review on the diet of the species was carried out aiming gather data on food habits. The nesting territory, as well as the nest was discovered in semi-deciduous seasonal forest area. We recorded predation of a Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus) by the young. After two days of observation, the nest was overthrown, what allowed its screening for other food items discovered after analysis of some feathers and bones. Detailed records of predation of S. ornatus were non-existent or inaccurate. Taking together our own field observation and the literature review, we found 121 taxa consumed by S. ornatus. A total of 78 bird species were reported, mainly Galliformes, followed by medium-sized mammals (38 species), well represented by Rodentia and Primates.

Seasonal variation in the predation on avian resources by the Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) in Brazil, based on community science data

“…Although some recent studies have used photographic records of WikiAves to investigate aspects of the feeding ecology of Brazilian birds (e.g., Teixeira et al 2019, Tubelis & Wachlevski 2021, Gomes & Tubelis 2022, Costa & Tubelis 2023), the amount of information about food items available in this database remains substantially underused by researchers. Our study suggests that professional ornithologists could benefit significantly by using records on platforms such as WikiAves to increase the knowledge on aspects of the feeding ecology of birds.…”

“…Thus, their role in animal predation needs to be better examined. We supposed that this scarcity of quantitative information on the diet of toucans could be mitigated through the use of community science data, as recently occurred for bird species of other families found in Brazil (e.g., Crozariol & Gomes 2010, Teixeira et al 2019, Tubelis & Sazima 2021, Tubelis & Wachlevski 2021, de Souza et al 2022, Gomes & Tubelis 2022, Costa & Tubelis 2023.…”

Identification of spatial data and ecology of Javan hawk-eagle's nest (Nisaetus bartelsi) in the Kondang Merak Coastal, South Malang, East Java, Indonesia

“…This is because there are similarities in their living needs, such as prey (Gjershaugh et al 2004;Gunawan et al 2016). After all, each eagle has almost the same prey specifications, so the process of foraging for food occurs in the same area (Jones and Dorward 2014;Zilio 2017;Peck et al 2018;Teixeira et al 2019) The Javan Eagle's nest tree in Kondang Merak Coastal is located in a lowland forest. The nest tree used by the Javan hawk-eagle is Spondias pinnata or known in the local name as the 'forest kedondong' tree (Figure 3).…”

First record of death-feigning in Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) (Cathartidae)

“…However, such behavior is uncertain in this particular situation described here. Even though vultures are vulnerable to predation by terrestrial carnivores when they are fledglings and juveniles, few reports of adults being predated are known (Houston 1994, Teixeira et al 2019. In spite of being quite common in several taxa, the adaptive significance of thanatosis is still uncertain.…”