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Records of breeding activities of the Sunbittern (Eurypyga helias) obtained by citizens in Brazil (A) a pair copulating in May at Barão de Melgaço, MT (B) a nest built with plenty of moss, and an incubating adult, in February at Alta Floresta, MT (C) a nest with an egg in January at Pium, TO (D) a juvenile outside the nest in April at Alta Floresta, MT. Photographs (A) Bruno Carvalho/WA1712902 (B) Sidnei Dantas/WA3290033 (C) Túlio Dornas/WA3680706 and (D) Francisco Luiz Vicentini Neto/WA2101461.
Source publication
The breeding of the Sunbittern remains scarcely studied in South America. We examined here aspects of the breeding of the Sunbittern in Brazil through citizen science platforms. We searched for photographs in the eBird, iNaturalist and WikiAves databases in November 2020 and June 2021. Eighteen records showing evidence of breeding activities were o...
Contexts in source publication
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... database, only one photograph was obtained, corresponding to 1.1% of the 90 records from Brazil. These 18 records were obtained mainly in Mato Grosso state, but also occurred in Tocantins, Pará and Goiás. These records involved copulations (n=2), nests with eggs, nestlings and/or incubating adults (n=14), or young outside the nests (n=2) (Fig. 1, Table ...
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... were built with leaves, steams, roots, moss and mud (Fig. 1). Leaves and mud were present on all nests, while other material was less frequent. Nine nests (64%) had an incubating adult, and thus the clutch size could not be known. Other three nests had an only egg, a solitary nestling, or two nestlings being protected by an adult. Eggs were cream-pinkish with numerous black and brown dots. An ...
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... and mud were present on all nests, while other material was less frequent. Nine nests (64%) had an incubating adult, and thus the clutch size could not be known. Other three nests had an only egg, a solitary nestling, or two nestlings being protected by an adult. Eggs were cream-pinkish with numerous black and brown dots. An egg found at Pium (Fig. 1c), and measured by TD with a 20 cm rigid plastic tape, had 41 mm in width and 52 mm in length. Solitary young with moderately developed plumage were photographed while perched on ...
Citations
... This is because photographs that show, for example, the breeding activities of birds represented only a small part of the total set of photographs of a given species. For example, only 1-2% of the photographs available for the Orinoco Goose Neochen jubata (Spix, 1825) and the Sunbittern Eurypyga Helias (Pallas, 1781) in Brazil brought information about their breeding activities [38,72]. Thus, researchers should expect hundreds or a few thousands of photographic records to investigate breeding aspects of species through WikiAves records. ...
About four million photographic records of Brazilian birds are deposited in the WikiAves database. The objective of this study was to examine the spatiotemporal distribution of photographic records available in this database. Searches were performed in the database in 2022. Record numbers produced by citizens were obtained by selecting states and municipalities in different periods. The annual record production in Brazil has increased substantially since 2009, reaching about 400,000 records per year in 2020–2021. Most records were obtained in the Sudeste and Sul geopolitical regions. Seasonal variations in record production in the Cerrado and the Atlantic Forest are comparable, with more records obtained in July–October. In Amazonia, a more substantial decrease in record production occurred between November and April. The monthly record production was more uniform in the Caatinga. When municipalities were compared, similar seasonal variation in record production was observed for four ecosystems (Amazonia, Atlantic Forest, Cerrado and Pampa). However, substantial differences were observed for municipalities in the Pantanal and the Caatinga. The results indicate that high human density, high individual income and the breeding season of birds are potential factors leading to high record production. On the other hand, heavy rainfall, flooding, remoteness and environmental harshness are pointed out as factors potentially leading to relatively fewer records. Further, this article discusses the implications of record availability for ornithological studies that use photographic records deposited in the WikiAves database.
... Thus, their records comprise a longer period of breeding activities, when compared with results of studies that have observations restricted to the incubation and nestling periods. Also, data obtained by citizen scientists involved a larger number of records, over a larger spatial range, than that obtained by professional ornithologists studying toucans, as occurred recently for some species in Brazil [21,22,43,44]. Thus, I suggest that Brazilian ornithologists make an intense use of the extraordinary quantity of records available in databases such as Wikiaves and eBird to study breeding aspects of birds. ...
Toucans are among the most conspicuous and famous birds in the Neotropics, but numerous aspects of their biology remain poorly known. The Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) and the Chestnut-eared Aracari (Pteroglossus castanotis) are commonly found in central Brazil, where studies on their breeding are scarce. The objective of this study was to examine aspects of their breeding in the Brazilian Cerrado. Searches for photographs with evidence of breeding activities were done in the WikiAves database. Citizens produced 126 records of copulations, nests, eggs and/or young. Records of the Toco Toucan (n = 92) tended to be concentrated in central and southeastern Cerrado, while those of the Chestnut-eared Aracari (n = 34) occurred mainly in its central and southwestern regions. Nests of the Toco Toucan were in hollows of palm and non-palm trees, termite nests and a pole. They were in native or human-modified habitats, and had 2–3 eggs or young in the early rainy period (OctoberDecember). On the other hand, nests of the Chestnut-eared Aracari were in hollows of non-palm trees in unknown habitats; regarding these records, a single nestling was found in the nest entrance in November, and clutch and brood sizes were unknown. Records of copulations, eggs and young in the nest indicate that the onset of breeding season of both species occurs from the late dry season to the early rainy season. Records of young indicate that the breeding seasons might reach the dry season in the Cerrado. Citizen science can improve our knowledge about toucans.
... As results of these studies differ at some extension, and their observations were based on few nests found in only two protected areas at Distrito Federal, it is likely that the breeding season of the Horned Sungem in the Cerrado has been underestimated. We supposed that the paucity of information on its breeding aspects could be mitigated through the use of citizen science data, similarly as has been conducted for other bird species in Brazil [21,22]. This study aimed to examine breeding aspects of the Horned Sungem in the Brazilian Cerrado using data from citizen science. ...
... Wikiaves and, less expressively, eBird Brasil appear to provide excellent datasets for the study of breeding aspects of the national avifauna. Therefore, we reinforce previous studies [4,21,22,29,30] that pointed out that citizen scientists can substantially contribute for the conduction of research by professional ornithologists in Brazil. ...
Photographic records produced by citizen scientists have been used by professional ornithologists to study tropical birds. Near 90 species of hummingbirds occur in Brazil, and few of them have had aspects of their breeding investigated in detail. The Horned Sungem Heliactin bilophus is a small hummingbird commonly found in central Brazil, and remains poorly known. This study aimed to investigate breeding aspects of H. bilophus in the Brazilian Cerrado through the use of citizen science data. Searches for photographic records were conducted in three online databases in April 2022. Records with evidences of breeding activities (n = 35) were obtained by citizens along 15 years, and included in this study. Most of them (89%) were obtained in the WikiAves database. They were obtained mainly in central and southeastern Cerrado. Nests were cup-shaped, and fixed to forking branches of shrubs. Most records involved nests, while a minor portion referred to young photographed outside nests. Only female adults were associated with nests or young. Clutch size was always two eggs (n = 6). One or two young were found per nest (n = 10). Most records (66%) occurred in the dry season, and fewer of them (34%) were obtained in the rainy season. They were concentrated during the whole dry season, and the late rainy season, having occurred scarcely in other periods of the year. Each phase of the breeding season (nest building, nests with eggs, downy young, greenish young in nests, and fledged young) lasted for 5-7 months. The breeding season of the Horned Sungem in the Brazilian Cerrado comprises at least 10 months, a period much longer than that considered in previous literature. This study suggests that photographic records available in citizen science databases can improve the knowledge of breeding aspects of hummingbird species found in Brazil.
