Behavioral repertoire of a population of wild Chilean Flamingos Phoenicopterus chilensis in southern Brazil

Abstract

The Lagoa do Peixe National Park in southern Brazil is an important contranuptial site for many bird species, including Chilean Flamingos that come from Andean highlands and the South Atlantic coast, mainly during the southern hemisphere winter, and is the only site where Chilean flamingos can be seen all year long. Despite that, the information about ecology and behaviour of the flamingos in the region is still scarce and incomplete. With that in mind, we aim to construct a behavioural repertoire of this population of wild Chilean Flamingos, which can be used in conservation and management actions, future research and for educational purposes. Between May and November 2019, we made focal observation of the individuals of the park, totalising 99.8 h. We observed 41 different behaviours divided in 5 major categories: Feeding, Locomotion, Maintenance, Agonistic Social and Non-Agonistic Social. Our records confirmed behavioural observations made by other studies in flamingo behaviour, but we also registered new behaviours for the first time in the area, like the occurrence of synchronised behaviours of flamingo flocks. We also recorded a variety of feeding and maintenance behaviours that indicate the influence of environmental and populational variables on the behaviours of the species. Our data demonstrate the differences among captive and wild population behaviours, reinforce the relevance of behavioural studies in contranuptial areas and the importance of these areas to the species.