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A novel mode of bathing behavior of hummingbirds recorded in the Brazilian ruby Heliodoxa rubricauda and allies (Aves: Trochilidae)

acta ethologica (2022)Cite this article

A Correction to this article was published on 03 June 2022

This article has been updated

Abstract

The Brazilian ruby, Heliodoxa rubricauda, is a forest species of hummingbird endemic to the Atlantic Forest. It belongs to an Andean clade of birds with robust and strong legs and adapted to feed on inflorescences of plants from high regions and influenced by strong winds. It occurs from northeastern to southern Brazil on slopes, sierras, and mountains and has the little-known behavior of bathing in waterfalls and forest streams. Based on five field observations made in the state of São Paulo, and records available from online photo platforms, we concluded that H. rubricauda is the only species of hummingbird in Brazil that bathes by settling on rocks of forest waterfalls with medium to strong currents. This behavior is made possible by the robust and strong legs the species inherited from its evolutionary lineage, which, in the Atlantic Forest, are used for feeding, defense, and bathing. We hypothesize that this behavior is more efficient for body hygiene than other existing behaviors because it allows a greater amount of water to pass over the body, thereby eliminating traces of food and parasites, in addition to reducing risks of predation.

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the Fundação Florestal de São Paulo-COTEC; the team at the Curucutu Nucleus; Mara of Fazenda Maravilha; Thaís B. Zanata for the revision and important suggestions made to the manuscript; and the library team at the USP Zoology Museum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Comitê Brasileiro de Registros Ornitológicos - CBRO, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Fabio Schunck

  2. Secretaria Municipal do Verde e do Meio Ambiente da Prefeitura de São Paulo - SVMA, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Kleber Evangelista Rodrigues

  3. Sociedade para a Conservação das Aves do Brasil - Save Brasil, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Marco Aurélio Galvão da Silva

  4. Birding Chapada Diamantina, Lençóis, BA, Brazil

    Cristine Prates & Ciro Albano

  5. Depto. de Biologia e Zoologia & Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso Cuiabá, Cuiabá, MT, Brazil

    Vítor Q. Piacentini

  6. Comitê Brasileiro de Registros Ornitológicos – CBRO, Cuiabá, MT, Brazil

    Vítor Q. Piacentini

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  1. Fabio Schunck
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  2. Kleber Evangelista Rodrigues
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  3. Marco Aurélio Galvão da Silva
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  4. Cristine Prates
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  5. Ciro Albano
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  6. Vítor Q. Piacentini
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Correspondence to Fabio Schunck.

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The original online version of this article was revised: The co-author Vítor Q. Piacentini's affiliation has been updated and the unnecessary commas numbers of the images of the online platforms mentioned in the Table 1 and under the Results section has been corrected.

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Schunck, F., Rodrigues, K.E., da Silva, M.A.G. et al. A novel mode of bathing behavior of hummingbirds recorded in the Brazilian ruby Heliodoxa rubricauda and allies (Aves: Trochilidae). acta ethol (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-022-00393-2

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Keywords

  • Hummingbird
  • Atlantic Forest
  • Serra do Mar
  • Natural history