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Chironius Maculoventris (Serpentes, Colubridae) and Erythrolamprus

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Chironius Maculoventris (Serpentes, Colubridae) and Erythrolamprus Herpetology Notes, volume 13: 851-853 (2020) (published online on 16 October 2020) Chironius maculoventris (Serpentes, Colubridae) and Erythrolamprus poecilogyrus caesius (Serpentes, Dipsadidae) killed by Taraba major (Aves: Thamnophilidae) in Chaco dry forest of Argentina María Gabriela Núñez Montellano1,* In the neotropical region snakes are important Santa Fé y Tucumán), Bolivia, and Paraguay (Cei, 1993; predators of birds (especially their nests; Robinson et Cacciali et al., 2016). Both species are predominantly al., 2005), but they are also predated and attacked by terrestrial and mostly batrachophagous (Cacciali and several species of birds. Attacks by birds on snakes Motte, 2010), and they have been recorded as prey of may be predatory or defensive in nature (Flasskamp, some birds, mainly falconiformes (e.g., Aravena, 1928; 1994; Sparkman and Bronikowski, 2013), and they are Barros and Waller, 2015; Di-Giacomo, 2005). Here I rarely observed in nature. Even less is known about the report field observations of the Great Antshrike (Taraba identity and behaviour of the species involved (Gregory, major; Aves: Thamnophilidae) attacking and killing 2016). Their identification is necessary for a better both of these snakes in Chaco dry forest of northwestern understanding of the predator-prey relationships and the Argentina. These are the first records of attack events by selective pressures influencing their life-history traits the Great Antshrike towards snakes. (Sparkman and Bronikowski, 2013; Gregory, 2016). The Great Antshrike, Taraba major, is a large Chironius maculoventris Dixon et al., 1993 and thamnophilid bird (19–20 cm; 50–70 g) widespread in Erythrolamprus poecilogyrus caesius (Cope, 1862) riparian forest, secondary forests, woodland borders, and are neotropical snake species typical of the Chaco shrubby edges from southern Mexico to northwestern phytogeographical province. Chironius maculoventris Peru, northern Argentina, and southeastern Brazil is a diurnal, slender, relatively long colubrid (maximum (Zimmer and Isler, 2020). It is a sexually dimorphic length 120 cm; Dixon et al., 1993; Hollis, 2006), species, whose males have a mostly black upper body occurring in northern Argentina (Chaco, Corrientes, and white lower body with a black-barred tail, whereas Entre Ríos, Formosa, Salta), western Paraguay in females the black is replaced by rufous-brown. They (Boquerón, Presidente Hayes), southern Bolivia, and are socially monogamous bird and both members of a Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul) (Giraudo and Scrocchi, pair defend their territory year-round and share in all 2002; Marra Santos et al., 2015). Erythrolamprus p. nesting activities. Great Antshrikes are often found caesius is a medium-sized snake (maximum length 60 foraging in the understory for a wide range of taxa that cm), active both by day and night (Pinto and Fernandes, include seeds, arthropods, snails, and other molluscs, as 2004; Martins et al., 2008; Prieto et al., 2012) and well as small vertebrates, including lizards, frogs, and generally found near water. It is distributed in Argentina tadpoles (Beltzer, 1987; Sheldon and Greeney, 2008; (Chaco, Corrientes, Formosa, Salta, Santiago del Estero, Efe et al., 2015), but there are no published records that indicate snakes as their prey. My observations took place in Rivadavia Banda Sur, Salta Province, Argentina, a site located in the dry Chaco habitat of the Chaco phytogeographical province. The area is characterised by sparse secondary forests (i.e., 1 Instituto de Ecología Regional, Consejo Nacional de woodlands subjected to anthropogenic disturbances such Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, CC 34, Yerba Buena 4107, Tucumán, as fire, logging, and overgrazing) and shrublands, with Argentina. saline soils ranging from poorly drained to seasonally * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] flooded. In both cases, specimens were not collected. 852 María Gabriela Núñez Montellano Observation 1.—The first observation was made on picked up the posterior segment of the snake (part of the 12 August 2008 in the marginal vegetation of a pond body and tail, estimated length 50 cm) with its beak and of 0.6 ha surface area (24.1880ºS, 62.8405ºW, elevation moved it, but after a few meters, perhaps because of my 198 m). At 1830 h I observed an adult female Great presence, left it and flew away. The snake had no other Antshrike on the ground, pecking at the body and tail of wounds on the body. an Erythrolamprus poecilogyrus (Fig. 1A). The snake Two options exist to interpret these observations. had its head and part of the body hidden inside a hole On the one hand, the attacks of the Great Antshrike in the ground. When disturbed by my presence, the may have occurred in the context of predation and bird flew away and left the snake. The snake had a big exploitation of snakes as a food resource. On the other wound in the body, its hemipenes were everted, and it hand, especially since I did not observe consumption of was dead (Fig. 1B). the snakes, particularly the defenceless E. poecilogyrus, Observation 2.—The second observation was made on the attacks may have occurred in the context of defensive 12 May 2009 in the marginal vegetation of a pond of behaviours to drive the predators away from the birds’ 5.8 ha of surface (24.1756ºS, 62.8765ºW, elevation 207 territories, as reported for other thamnophilid birds m). At 1155 h I observed an adult male Great Antshrike (e.g., the Fasciated Antshrike, Cymbilaimus lineatus; attacking a Chironius maculoventris. During the 5-min Chiver et al., 2017). My observations of attacks on and observation period, the Great Antshrike was on the killing of two different snake species certainly show that ground actively pecking the body of the snake (Fig. the Great Antshrike can be a threat to its potential snake 2A), until it was cut into two pieces (Fig. 2B). The bird predators. Figure 1. (A) A female Great Antshrike (Taraba major) Figure 2. (A) A male Great Antshrike (Taraba major) holding pecking at a male Erythrolamprus poecilogyrus in the marginal the body of a dead Chironius maculoventris after it was vegetation of a pond at Rivadavia Banda Sur, Salta, Argentina. attacked at Rivadavia Banda Sur, Salta, Argentina. (B) Part of (B) Part of the body of the dead snake after the attack had the body and tail of the bisected dead snake after the attack ended. Notice the wound on the ventral of the snake and the had ended. everted hemipenes. Two snake species killed by Taraba major in Chaco dry forest of Argentina 853 Acknowledgment. I thank Demián Slodki and Santiago Nenda & Cei, 1993 (Squamata: Serpentes: Colubridae) in Brazil. for helping me identify the snakes. This work has been supported Herpetology Notes 8: 169–171. by a grant from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Martins, M., Marques, O.A.V., Sazima, I. (2008): How to be Científicas y Técnicas. arboreal and diurnal and still stay alive: microhabitat use, time of activity, and defense in neotropical forest snakes. South American Journal of Herpetology 3: 58–67. References Pinto, R.R., Fernandes, R. (2004): Reproductive biology and diet of Aravena, R.O. (1928): Notas sobre la alimentación de las aves. Liophis poecilogyrus (Serpentes, Colubridae) from southeastern Hornero 4: 153–166. Brazil. Phyllomedusa 3: 9–14. Barros, M.M., Aaller, T. (2015): Natural history notes. Bothrops Prieto, Y.A., Giraudo, A.R., López, M.S. (2012): Diet and sexual diporus (Southern pitviper). Diet/ophiophagy. Herpetological dimorphism of Liophis poecilogyrus from the wetland regions Review 46: 443–444. of northeast of Argentina. Journal of Herpetology 46: 402–406. Beltzer, A.H. (1987): Ecología alimentaria de Batará grande Robinson, W.D., Rompre, G., Robinson, T.R. (2005): Videography Taraba major (Aves: Formicariidae) en el valle aluvial del Río of Panama bird nests shows snakes are principal predators. Parana Medio, Argentina. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Ornitologia Neotropical 16: 187–195 Environment 22: 137–144. Sheldon, K.S., Greeney, H.F. (2008). A comparison of parental Cacciali, P., Motte, M. (2010): Hábitos predatórios de Liophis care of the Great Antshrike (Taraba major) in Costa Rica and poecilogyrus schotti (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) sobre anfibios de Ecuador. Ornitologia Neotropical 19: 293–297. la familia Microhylidae. Reportes científicos de la FACEN 1: Sparkman, A.M., Bronikowski, A.M., Billings, J.G., von Borstel, 60–61. D., Arnold, S.J. (2013): Avian predation and the evolution of Cacciali, P., Scott, N.J., Ortiz, A.L.A., Fitzgerald, L.A., Smith, P. life histories in the Garter snake Thamnophis elegans. American (2016): The reptiles of Paraguay: literature, distribution, and Midland Naturalist 170: 66–85. an annotated taxonomic checklist. Special Publication of the Vitt, L.J. (1983): Ecology of an anuran-eating guild of terrestrial Museum of Southwestern Biology 11: 1–373. tropical snakes. Herpetologica 39: 56–66. Cei, J. (1993): Reptiles del noroeste, nordeste y este de la Zimmer, K., Isler, M.L. (2020): Great Antshrike (Taraba major). Argentina; herpetofauna de las selvas subtropicales, Puna y Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Available at: https:// Pampas. Monografie di Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali www.hbw.com/node/56654. Accessed on 30 January 2020. Torino 14: 1–946. Chiver, I., Jaramillo, C.A., Morton, E.S. (2017): Mobbing behavior and fatal attacks on snakes by Fasciated Antshrikes (Cymbilaimus lineatus). Journal of Ornithology 158: 935–942. Di-Giacomo, A.G. (2005): Birds of the El Bagual Reserve. In: Aves de la Reserva El Bagual. Historia natural y paisaje de la Reserva El Bagual, Provincia de Formosa, Argentina, p. 201– 465. Di-Giacomo, A.G., Krapovickas, S.F., Eds., Buenos Aires, Argentina. Asociación Ornitológica del Plata. Dixon, J.R., Wiest, J.A., Cei, J.M. (1993): Revision of the neotropical snake genus Chironius Fitzinger (Serpentes, Colubridae). Monografie di Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali Torino 13: 1–448. Efe, M.A., Nunes de Paiva, F., Holderbaum, J.M., Ladle, R.J.
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