Abstract
Passerines are elusive animals, and their capture generally requires considerable fieldwork. This study describes the capture and sampling of free-living birds from two of the most illegally trafficked Brazilian wild passerine species, namely the red-crested cardinal (Paroaria coronata) and green-winged saltator (Saltator similis). The study is part of the planning process for a rehabilitation and release program for confiscated conspecifics of both species. A total of 290 free-living wild passerines were captured, and most of them were sampled, banded, and immediately released at the same site. Blood, feces, and oropharyngeal swabs were collected for subsequent health analysis and blood drops were stored on FTA cards for genetic assessments. Conspecific live decoys played an important role in the trapping process, especially those with a high-ranking for dueling behavior and vocal performance. Most of the green-winged saltators that promptly engage in combat were caught with netted trapdoors. However, red-crested cardinals are shy, cautious, open-area passerines that seldom perch on unknown objects. These were mostly captured in loop snares after they perched on tree branches used as triggers. Although mist netting was more difficult to install and captured the most non-target species, it was the fastest technique and also provided comparable numbers of captures for both target species. Despite being an old and well-established practice, detailed information on the use of live decoys for capturing free-living passerines is scarce.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to CMPC Celulose Riograndense Ltda. for their financial support and to the land owners who granted us access to their properties for fieldwork. We thank Armando Garcia, Marcelo Maronna, Cristina Trein, and João Almeida for introducing us to the land owners. We express our gratitude to ICMBio and IBAMA for granting the research license and acknowledge the invaluable help of Raquel Hohendorff, Diógenes Machado, Gustavo Lipinski, Miguel Corrêa, Juan Homem, and Nicole Böelter with bird management. We also thank Edenice Souza (Floresta Nacional de São Francisco de Paula) and Soraya Ribeiro (Parque Natural Morro do Osso) for their assistance in the field and the Fundação de Apoio da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul for administrative support, especially its former CEO professor Sérgio Nicolaiewsky who was always willing to listen and solve our projects’ unusual demands.
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This research has been funded by the CMPC Celulose Riograndense ltda. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
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This research (no. 23644) was approved by the UFRGS Animal Ethics Committee and licensed by the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio – Supplementary File 1), under license number 37567. All the procedures described here comply with current Brazilian laws.
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Cruz, C.E.F., Wagner, P.G.C., Driemeier, D. et al. Live decoys: an old but effective tool for attracting, capturing, and studying free-living passerines. Eur J Wildl Res 68, 24 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-022-01571-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-022-01571-0