História natural de Penelope obscura bronzina (Hellmayr, 1914) (Galliformes: Cracidae) no Campus da Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Minas Gerais

Abstract

The general objective of this study was to contribute for a better knowledge of the dusky-legged guans (Penelope obscura bronzina), as well as of the situations which the species is submitted in the study area, a 75 ha Seasonal Semidecidual Forest fragment (known as Mata da Biologia) within the Campus of the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), Viçosa, Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. This forest fragment was randomly scanned in its entire extension by morning and by evening, between July of 2004 and May of 2005, and the behavior aspects of the dusky-legged guans were recorded. Flock size ranged from two to 60 birds, but solitary individuals were recorded in the area. The breeding season comprised September and December of 2004 (which coincides with the rain season), characterized by flight displays and by the presence of chicks. Two nests, belonging to one pair of dusky-legged guan that laid a reposition clutch after they had lost the first one, were recorded on oiti trees (Licania tomentosa) on a sidewalk alongside of the forest fragment (nearby the botanical garden). Either the female or the male take care of the chicks. The chicks are very active even in the first week of borne. Other pair with two chicks and one female with one chick were recorded in the area, besides adults followed by immature young individuals in the following months after the breeding season. The dusky-legged guans had the most of its diet composed by fruits of 12 botanical families and ate fruits available on the woods and frequently visited the fruiting trees at the Sete Casas and Gianetti villages that margining the forest fragment, making small shifts following the ripeness of some trees, concentrating in these feeding bouts. The dusky-legged guans were very opportunistic and fed on the kitchen gardens of the village’s houses and were feeding every day by inhabitants of the villages and by employees of the UFV with corn, corn meal and fruits. Beside that, these birds consumed grass, young leaves and buds of the sub canopy and flowers. Based on the observations, it was possible to determined seven favorable conditions and 11 unfavorable conditions for the species in the study area. Thirteen magnifying and 23 mitigating measures were outlined for the favorable and unfavorable conditions, respectively. The majority of these measures could be executed by the institution (UFV) itself, helped from the results of this study. The food offering by inhabitants of the villages and by the employees of the UFV seems to be the main cause of the concentrations of the dusky-legged guans in some areas, allied with the propitious ambient of the dam’s surroundings and with the abundant and rich fruit crop of two exotic species of palms in the area. This, added to the tameness that the dusky-legged guans are presenting could promote an increasing domestication of these birds in the area.