Nest and egg description of threatened Herpsilochmus spp. from coastal forest habitats in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil (Aves: Thamnophilidae)

Abstract

We provide description of eggs and nest structure for two Brazilian antwrens, including the IUCN "vulnerable" species, H. pectoralis Sclater, 1857, and the BirdLife International "near-threatened", H. sellowi Whitney & Pacheco, 2000. Our observations derive from a larger study on Herpsilochmus Cabanis, 1847 distribution in coastal forest fragments in the northern range limit of the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest. Both species nested in relatively open forest. The nest of H. sellowi was built with fungal hyphae, a trait common among some birds. Both eggs were moderately beige with brown spots. Most of the information on Brazilian antwren nesting comes from species that do not occur in the Atlantic rainforest. This is the first account for nest behavior for Atlantic rainforest antwrens.