Reproductive and agonistic behaviors of black-fronted piping guans candidates for release and reintroduced (Galliformes: Cracidae) in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

Abstract

The black-fronted piping guan, Pipile jacutinga, is an endemic Atlantic Forest cracid currently classified as Endangered in Brazil and globally. We present data on the reproductive and agonistic behaviors of a pair of captive reared Black-fronted piping guans reintroduced in a protected area in Serra da Mantiqueira, São Paulo state, Brazil, as well as opportunistic records of reproductive behavior of Black-fronted piping guan candidates for release that were held inside a pre-release acclimation enclosure. Behavioral data were collected from September 2017 to February 2018. We conducted 172 h of observations across 97 days of monitoring. Six reproductive behaviors were recorded: 1) Wing Display, 2) Nodding Call, 3) Mating Dance, 4) Male Offering Food to Female, 5) Tail Fanning and 6) Copulation. Two white eggs were seen on the 14th day of incubation in a natural nest built in a tree fern. Only the female was observed incubating the eggs. The female devoted over 90 % of her time to incubation, the rest mainly to foraging or vigilance. The male spent 48 % of time vigilant nearby of the nest but did not interact with the female or eggs. On the 20th day, incubation was interrupted following heavy rain. Agonistic interactions related to territory defense were observed between the released male and males inside the pre-release acclimation enclosure. On 88 % of the occasions we observed territorial defense behavior between the reintroduced male and other males inside the enclosure. The observations of the pair of reintroduced Black-fronted piping guans and of the candidates for release, provided valuable information about the reproductive behaviors of this largely unstudied and critically threatened species.