Cotinga 36 Short Communications

The nest and eggs of Black- north-east of Abancay, Apurímac, finer grass stems internally. The throated Flowerpiercer Peru, at 3,400 m. At 07h45 we internal cup was densely lined Diglossa brunneiventris flushed an adult from a nest c.50 with soft, pale green Usnea lichens The breeding biology of Diglossa cm above ground adjacent to a (Parmeliaceae). flowerpiercers is poorly known narrow trail. The majority of the The nest held two pale blue eggs and the nests of eight of the 18 c.550-ha plantation comprised tall with fine cinnamon flecking and Diglossa species are unknown5. Eucalyptus with sparse grasses blotching, slightly heavier near the Black-throated Flowerpiercer D. and herbs below, and little or no larger end. One was more heavily brunneiventris belongs to a clade understorey, while several active marked (Fig. 1). We were unable with Grey-bellied D. carbonaria, pastures interspersed the forested to measure the eggs or nest. Mérida D. gloriosa and Black parts. In the area immediately Comparing the photographs with Flowerpiercers D. humeralis5 surrounding the nest, however, unpublished (HFG) measurements and, despite its local abundance, undergrowth was denser. The of the nest of the similarly is among the least known of the nearest relatively undisturbed sized D. genus. It occupies low-stature native forest is 5 km to the west caerulescens, we estimate the montane habitats, mostly at (Santuario Nacional de Ampay). following dimensions: 4–5 cm inner 2,400–4,300 m in Peru5. The The nest was constructed amid diameter; c.4 cm inner depth; nominate subspecies ranges from tangled vegetation on a mossy 11–12 cm outer diameter. Peru through western Bolivia bank, densely laden with ferns When we first approached the to northern Chile. It typically and other herbaceous plants, nest an adult flushed directly inhabits dry scrub but also occurs and supported by these plants. into nearby undergrowth where in smaller numbers in semi-humid It was well concealed from most it silently disappeared. No adult and humid woodland borders, directions (for the purpose of returned during the c.10 minutes hedgerows and Polylepis stands5. photography we temporarily we remained in the area to On 30 November 2011 we parted the vegetation). The photograph the nest. Overall, found a nest of nominate D. external part of the cup-shaped during four days (42 hours of field brunneiventris in the dense nest (Fig. 1) comprised interwoven work) in the area, we observed undergrowth of a regenerating grass stems and moss, in roughly 15 Black-throated Flowerpiercers Eucalyptus spp. plantation equal proportions, with moss (2.3% of observed , n = 652). (13°36.468’S 72°49.855’W), 5 km predominant externally and Black-throated Flowerpiercer (the only Diglossa in the area) was the 40th most common species of the 54 species observed. The nests and eggs of Diglossa appear fairly uniform, based on this and previously published descriptions. Described nests are open, fairly bulky cups, with a loose outer portion of stick-like materials (e.g., pine needles, leaf petioles, twigs) and moss. Internally, egg cups are comparatively neat, generally fairly deep, and lined with soft materials. A lining of Usnea lichens is favoured by White-sided Flowerpiercer D. albilatera in north-east Ecuador (HFG unpubl.). Location varies, both between and within species, but all described nests have been placed either in low shrubs, supported by multiple branches or stems, or on other substrates like rock ledges, banks or mossy trunks. Likewise, there appears to be little variation in egg coloration. Eggs are uniformly described as pale blue or turquoise, with variable amounts of lavender or cinnamon markings. Published Figure 1. Nest and eggs of Black-throated Flowerpiercer Diglossa brunneiventris, near descriptions and unpublished Abancay, Apurímac, Peru, 30 November 2011 (Tomáš Grim & Libor Vaicenbacher) observations by HFG of >50 nests

56 Cotinga 36 Short Communications of D. albilatera, D. caerulescens for Diglossa, including for those aussereuropäischen. Eier: and D. species whose nests are already Braunschweig. cyanea in Ecuador suggest that known. 7. Ogilvie-Grant, W. R. (1912) the more heavily marked egg in Catalogue of the collection Fig. 1 is slightly unusual in the Acknowledgements of birds’ eggs in the British degree of blotching (rather than LV & TG are grateful for financial Museum (Natural History), fine flecking). support from the Ministry of 5. London, UK: British The number of nests described Education of the Czech Republic, Museum. for all species of Diglossa is grant no. MSM6198959212. HFG 8. Sclater, P. L. & Salvin, O. very few, but here we provide thanks E. Miller, K. Zyskowski (1879) On the birds collected a brief review of nest and egg and N. Heming for help with by the late Mr. T. K. Salmon descriptions, from which the above literature, and Matt Kaplan and in the State of Antioquia, general comparisons were made. John V. Moore for continued United States of Colombia. Sclater & Salvin8 described the support. We thank G. Servat, S. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1879: nests and eggs of D. cyanea (as L. Hilty and J. Freile for suggested 486–550. D. personata; see Hellmayr4), D. improvements to earlier versions 9. Skutch, A. F. (1954) Life caerulescens and D. albilatera. of the manuscript. histories of Central American Subsequently, Goodfellow3 birds, 1. Pacific Coast References described the nest and eggs of D. Avifauna 31. Berkeley, CA: humeralis (as D. aterrima; see 1. Deery de Phelps, K. (1963) Cooper Orn. Soc. Hellmayr4). Skutch9 provided the Hundred of the best known 10. Vuilleumier, F. & Ewert, D. first such descriptions for Slaty birds of Venezuela. Caracas: N. (1978) The distribution Flowerpiercer D. plumbea and Ed. Lectura. of birds in Venezuelan Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer 2. Gilliard, E. T. (1941) The páramos. Bull. Amer. Mus. D. baritula, and Gilliard2 the only birds of Mt. Auyán-tepui, Nat. Hist. 162: 47–90. description of the nest of Greater Venezuela. Bull. Amer. Mus. Flowerpiercer D. major, albeit Nat. Hist. 77: 439–508. Libor Vaicenbacher and involving inactive nests without 3. Goodfellow, W. (1901) Results Tomáš Grim confirmed ownership. The only of an ornithological journey Dept. of Zoology and Laboratory of description for D. gloriosa was also through Colombia and Ornithology, Palacký University, based on an inactive nest10, and Ecuador. Ibis 43: 300–319. tř. 17. listopadu 50, CZ-771 46 both records require confirmation. 4. Hellmayr, C. E. (1935) Olomouc, Czech Republic. E-mails: Finally, although Nehrkorn6 and Catalogue of birds of the [email protected], tomas.grim@ Publ. Field Mus. Ogilvie-Grant7 described the Americas, 8. upol.cz. Nat. Hist. Zool. Ser eggs of D. . 13(8). Harold F. Greeney sittoides more than a century 5. Hilty, S. L. (2011) Family Yanayacu Biological Station ago, it appears that the first nest Thraupidae (). & Center for Creative Studies, description appeared in a grey In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, Cosanga, Napo, Ecuador; c/o 721 literature publication1. Finally, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the Foch y Amazonas, Quito, Ecuador. Hilty5 provided a description of the world E-mail: [email protected]. nest of D. , 16. Barcelona: Lynx lafresnayii, although his source is Edicions. Katalog Received 4 February 2013; final unclear. It is obvious that further 6. Nehrkorn, A. (1899) der Eiersammlung nebst revision accepted 20 October 2013; nest descriptions are required Beschreibungen der published online 10 March 2014

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