Records of breeding activity in birds of the Lima Metropolitan Area, central coast of Peru, based on citizen science data

Abstract

We compiled 302 breeding records from an in-depth review of bird observational records from the Lima Metropolitan Area (Lima-Peru), from eBird and iNaturalist, during 2000-2020. We (1) determined the geographic distribution of breeding records and breeding activity of species, (2) examined periods of breeding activity, and (3) described nesting patterns including nesting habitat use, host plant preference, and clutch size. Records occurred in 27 districts and encompassed 45 species. Haematopus palliatus (n=52) and Podiceps major (n=36) had the highest numbers of breeding records, and Zenaida meloda had the highest diversity of breeding activity (6 types of records). We established breeding periods for 21 species, including those breeding throughout the year (n=10), during the dry-warm season (December-April, n=5), during the humid-cold season (June-October, n=3), and some others showing some variation between the two seasons (n=3). Out of a total of 82 nesting records, 52.4% were associated with natural or artificial aquatic environments. We identified 15 host plant species, that provided support to eight nesting species. Nests of Charadrius vociferus (3 eggs), H. palliatus (1-4 eggs), and Z. meloda (2 eggs) showed invariable clutch sizes compared to what has been reported for these species in other areas of the Peruvian central coast. We showed that citizen science data is a useful tool for studying breeding biology, especially of Peruvian birds, where more traditional data sources are scarce.