NEST PREDATION IN A NEOTROPICAL FOREST OCCURS DURING DAYTIME

Alexander Skutch suggested that the threat of nest predation on tropical birds favors reduced activity near their nests. This hypothesis assumes that nest predation occurs during the day when adult birds are active, but few studies of tropical species have reported distributions of nest losses during the day-night cycle. We used thermistors placed in nests to record the time of nest predation events for species of understory rainforest birds during the incubation period. In our study, 14 of 21 nest-predation events (67%) occurred between 11:00 and 18:00 (EST), and none took place at night, between 19:00 and 06:00. Clearly, nest predation during incubation was primarily diurnal. Although a major premise of Skutch's hypothesis is supported, further research is needed to determine whether diurnal predators are attracted to nests by the movements of parent birds, begging of offspring, or other cues.