Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula, MexicoKlaas, Erwin E.
Science
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Klaas, Erwin E.
Birds -- Yucatan Peninsula
In burrow 2, three eggs had advanced embryos and one was infertile; in
burrow 3, the eggs had small embryos; and in burrow 4, the eggs
appeared fresh. Burrows 3 and 4 were occupied by adult birds that did
not flush during the excavation of their burrows. They were easily
caught by hand and later prepared as specimens. One was a male and the
other a female; each had a brood patch.
Possibly females of this species raise more than one brood in a single
nesting season, but I have no direct evidence of this. Such an
hypothesis is suggested by the different stages of nestings found in
the burrows. Moreover, there were more than twice as many burrows as
motmots in the area. The largest number of individuals counted at any
time near the colony was 20 adults (about an hour after sunrise).
Assuming that all of these birds had mates, the maximum number of
adults present could have numbered about 40.
There is another bit of evidence for double broods. Because of fouling
of the burrow that accompanies the raising of a brood of young, it
seems improbable that a burrow would be used immediately for a second
nesting attempt. Consequently digging a second burrow would be
necessary, if a second brood is raised.
Most of my observations are in keeping with Skutch's detailed report
(1947) of the species in Central America. According to him, eggs are
laid in April and May in Honduras and Guatamala, although he did not
state that breeding does not occur in other months. The observations in
Campeche in early July suggest that breeding can occur over an extended
period; Paynter (1955a:158) found the species to be in various stages
of reproductive activity in April on the peninsula.
Skutch suggested that the motmots he observed in Central America were
solitary nesters, and nest in "groups" only where suitable nesting
sites are scarce. In Campeche, many suitable, seemingly identical, but
unused, nesting sites were available within a few hundred yards of the
site of the actual nesting "colony." Moreover, most of the burrows were
only a few feet apart and no agonistic behavior was witnessed. It seems
that this motmot is characterized by colonial nesting habits in
Campeche, even where abundant sites for individual nesting efforts are
available.
The species was abundant around the _cenotes_ at Chichén-Itzá; adults
with enlarged gonads and brood patches and juveniles were taken at
Pisté as late as July 21.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account