Published Date
Received: September 20, 2014; Accepted: January 17, 2015;

Title

Nutrients Drive Termite Nest Geophagy in Yellow-chevroned Parakeets (Brotogeris chiriri)

Author 

Raul Costa-Pereira^1,6, Francisco Severo-Neto², Igor Inforzato³, Rudi Ricardo Laps⁴, and Marco Aurélio Pizo⁵

¹ Programa de Pós Graduação em Ecologia and Biodiversidade, Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Julio de Mesquita Filho’, Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil. 

² Laboratório de Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. 

³ Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil. 

⁴ Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. 

⁵ Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Julio de Mesquita Filho’, Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil. 

⁶ Corresponding author; e-mail: raulcpereira@gmail.com

Abstract 

We observed Yellow-chevroned Parakeets (Brotogeris chiriri) consuming soil from arboreal termite nests while excavating a nest cavity. As most observations of parrot geophagy come from clay licks, this observation prompted questions about the benefits of consuming termite nest soil rather than ground soil. We compared nutrient contents and chemical properties (organic matter, pH, cation exchange capacity, macro and micronutrients) from these two types of soil. Termite nest soil had higher concentrations of macronutrients and cation exchange capacity than ground soil, which may be related to mineral supplementation and binding of toxins present in fruits consumed by the Yellow-chevroned Parakeet.

For further details log on website :

http://wjoonline.org/doi/abs/10.1676/14-142.1