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Herpetology Notes, volume 8: 433-435 (published online on 12 August 2015)

Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia) shelter raided by a single tyrannid (Pitangus sulphuratus) in an urban park

Ivan Sazima

The Tropical House Gecko Hemidactylus mabouia In the park, several kiosks harbour variable numbers (Moreau de Jonnès, 1818) is a small gekkonid lizard, up of geckos under the roof tiles and in wood crevices. On to about 7 cm SVL (snout-vent length), native to Africa 16 January 2014, a storm with strong winds damaged and presently an invasive and well-established species the roof of one of the kiosks, and it had to be untiled the in the Neotropics (Anjos and Rocha, 2008; Rocha et al., next day (Fig. 1A). When I arrived at the park in late 2011; Iturriaga and Marrero, 2013). It dwells mostly in morning, a gecko was thermoregulating on the wood human buildings or close to urban areas, forages at night structure (Fig. 1B). A Great Kiskadee alighted on the and shelters during the day in crevices, under roof tiles, kiosk and began to inspect the untiled roof (Fig. 1C), and similar retreats (Howard et al., 2001; Powell and searching for the most accessible lizards. A few geckos Henderson, 2008; Iturriaga and Marrero, 2013). Despite left their shelters and moved to presumably safer places its cryptic appearance and nocturnal habits (Vitt, in the kiosk, but the bird reached them in the crevices 1985), this gecko is preyed by a variety of , and caught six of them in 20 min (1047-1107 h). When including snakes and (Gaiarsa et al., 2011; Santos- the bird caught a gecko, it beat the prey to death against Jr. et al., 2011; Pereira and Melo, 2012). I report here on the wooden structure or a branch (Fig. 1D). The lizards a shelter of the Tropical House Gecko raided by a single bit the bird’s bill to no avail and usually lost the tail tyrannid bird, the Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus during this handling by the predator. Two gecko that (Linnaeus, 1766), in an urban park in Southeastern crammed in a deeper crevice (Fig. 1E) were inaccessible . to the bird, which made several sallying attempts to I observed the geckos raided by the bird at a recreational catch them but was able to grasp and swallow only the park (22° 48’ 42”S, 47° 04’ 21”W) in Campinas, São tail of one of them (Fig. 1F). After a few minutes of Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. The interactions between checking the kiosk for further geckos, the bird searched the geckos and the bird were observed on 17 January the ground for lost tails and found one under the branch 2014 (austral summer) at late morning. The observations it had beaten the preys. were made with bare eyes and through a 70-300 mm In about eight years of field study at the park (May telephoto lens mounted on a camera from a distance 2007 to March 2015) I recorded the Tropical House of 2-4 m. I used ad libitum sampling method, which is Gecko as prey of five additional bird species (one lizard adequate to record rare or transient events (Altmann, per bird): the cuckoo Guira guira (Gmelin, 1788), 1974). Voucher digital photographs of the shelter, the the tyrant flycatchers Empidonomus varius (Vieillot, geckos, and the bird are on file at the Museu de Zoologia 1818), Megarynchus pitangua (Linnaeus, 1766) and da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (ZUEC). Myiodynastes maculatus (Statius Müller, 1776), and the Turdus leucomelas (Vieillot, 1818). The latter instance is described and commented upon by Sazima and D’Angelo (2011). However, this is the first time I recorded a gecko’s shelter raided by a single . The high predatory success of the bird was Museu de Zoologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, due to unusual circumstances, which include the storm 13083-970 Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil and the damaged kiosk roof that sheltered the geckos. E-mail: [email protected] Even if the Tropical House Gecko is one of the lizard 434 Ivan Sazima

Figure 1. Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia) shelter raided by the Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus) in Southeastern Brazil. A) The unroofed kiosk after storm damage. B) A gecko thermoregulates on the wooden structure before the bird’s arrival. C) Potential gecko shelters on the roof are inspected by the bird. D) The predator thrashes the gecko to death against a branch. E) Two geckos crammed in the deepest crevice available on the kiosk. F) The bird was able to grasp the tail of one of the crammed geckos.

preys of the Great Kiskadee, two individuals fed to a that spanned 15 months (Pereira and Melo, 2012). Thus, nestling is the highest number recorded over a day six individuals caught by a single bird in 20 min is an (Argel-de-Oliveira et al., 1998). Pellets of six nestlings exceptionally high figure that likely reduced the number of this tyrant flycatcher yielded 24 geckos in a study of geckos at the raided spot. Tropical House Gecko shelter raided by a single tyrannid bird in an urban park 435

Lizards are an uncommon prey of 122 Neotropical Powell, R., Henderson, R.W. (2008): Avian predators of west bird species, in a survey that included 203 Indian reptiles. Iguana 15: 8 – 11. such birds (Lopes et al., 2005). Fifty-eight lizard species Rocha, C.F.D., Anjos, L.A., Bergallo, H.G. (2011): Conquering Brazil: the invasion by the exotic gekkonid lizard Hemidactylus are preyed by 37 bird species in West Indies, but only 13 mabouia () in Brazilian natural environments. of these are (Powell and Henderson, 2008). Zoologia 28: 747-754. Thus, even if lizards are preyed by several passerine bird Santos-Jr., A.P., Carneiro, B.H.A., Sarmento, P.R., Ribeiro, S. species, this prey type may be uncommon in their diets. (2011): First record of the house gecko Hemidactylus mabouia As the raid made on the geckos by the Great Kiskadee (Moreau de Jonnès, 1818) in the diet of the vine snake Oxybelis occurred during its breeding season, I suppose that fulgidus (Daudin, 1803). Herpetology Notes 4: 429-430 the lizards were a welcome complement to the bird’s Sazima, I., D’Angelo, G.B (2011): The Pale-breasted Thrush (Turdus leucomelas) preys on a gekkonid lizard and an nutritional requirements during this period, as already anomalepidid snake. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 19: 450- mentioned for another bird species preying on the 452. Tropical House Gecko (Sazima and D’Angelo, 2011). Vitt, L.J. (1995): The ecology of tropical lizards in the caatinga of Reptiles and amphibians can allocate more energy into Northeast Brazil. Occasional Papers of the Oklahoma Museum biomass than endothermic vertebrates (Pough, 1980), of Natural History 1: 1-29. which strengthens my supposition about their nutritional value.

Acknowledgements. I thank the staff of the Parque Ecológico Prof. Hermógenes de Freitas Leitão Filho for allowing my natural history-focused studies in the park; to Marlies Sazima for loving support in the field and at home; Ariovaldo P. Cruz-Neto for thoughtful review; the CNPq for earlier financial support.

References

Altmann, J. (1974): Observational study of behavior: sampling methods. Behaviour 49: 227-267. Anjos, L.A., Rocha, C.F.D. (2008): Reproductive ecology of the invader species gekkonid lizard Hemidactylus mabouia in an area of southeastern Brazil. Iheringia, Série Zoologia 98: 205- 209. Argel-de-Oliveira, M.M., Curi, N.A, Passerini, T. (1998): Alimentação de um filhote de bem-te-vi, Pitangus sulphuratus (Linnaeus) (Passeriformes, Tyrannidae), em ambiente urbano. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 15: 1103-1109. Gaiarsa, M.P., Alencar, L.R.V., Martins, M. (2013): Natural history of pseudoboine snakes. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 53: 261-283. Howard, K.G., Parmerlee Jr., J.S., Powell, R. (2001): Natural history of the edificarian geckos Hemidactylus mabouia, Thecadactylus rapicauda, and Sphaerodactylus sputator on Anguilla. Caribbean Journal of Science 37: 285-288. Iturriaga, M., Marrero, R. (2013): Feeding ecology of the Tropical House Gecko Hemidactylus mabouia (Sauria: Gekkonidae) during the dry season in Havana, Cuba. Herpetology Notes 6: 11-17. Lopes, E.L., Fernandes, A.M., Marini, M.A. (2005): on vertebrates by Neotropical passerine birds. Lundiana 6: 57-66. Pereira, Z.P., Melo, C. (2012): Nestling’s pellets of the Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus) in Brazilian urban environment. Ornitologia Neotropical 23: 269-276. Accepted by Mirco Solé Pough, F.H. (1980): The advantages of ectothermy for tetrapods. American Naturalist 115: 92-112.