Validated Cleaner: The Cuculid Bird Crotophaga Ani Picks Ticks And Pecks At Sores Of Capybaras In Southeastern Brazil

Information on the role of smooth-billed anis (Crotophaga ani) as tick-pickers on mammals remains controversial. I record here these birds removing ticks and pecking at wounds of capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) in a small reserve at Campinas, São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. The birds inspected the mammals' skin, both in places with and without hair. The hair was parted with bill movements, and ticks were removed by vigorous pulling. The birds also pecked at open or healing sores, from which they extracted small portions of blood clots and dead tissue. The capybaras appeared oblivious to the birds' activity. Even in the case that the cleaning behaviour is restricted to some bird individuals and populations, or places and periods, this record validates the notion that smooth-billed anis removes ticks from herbivorous mammals.81213216BONALDO, R.M., KRAJEWSKI, J.P., SAZIMA, C., SAZIMA, I., Dentition damage in parrotfishes feeding on hard surfaces at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, southwest Atlantic Ocean (2007) Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser, 342, pp. 249-254BRADSHAW, C.J.A., WHITE, W.H., Rapid development of cleaning behaviour by Torresian crows Corvus orru on non-native banteng Bos javanicus in northern Australia (2006) J. Avian Biol, 37, pp. 409-411DIXON, J.S., California jay picks ticks from mule deer (1944) Condor, 46, p. 204FITZPATRICK, J.W., WOOLFENDEN, G.E., Florida scrub-jay forages on back of white-tailed deer (1996) Condor, 98, pp. 422-423GREENE, H.W., Natural history and evolutionary biology (1986) Predatorprey relationships: Perspectives and approaches from the study of lower vertebrates, pp. 99-108. , M.E. Feder & G.V. Lauder, eds, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pVON IHERING, R., (1946) Da vida dos nossos animais. Rottermund, , São LeopoldoKÖSTER, F.L., Zum nistverhalten des ani. (1971) Bonn. Zool. Beitr, 22, pp. 4-27MARTIN, P., BATESON, P., (1986) Measuring behaviour, an introductory guide, , Cambridge University Press, CambridgeMACDONALD, D.W., Feeding associations between capybaras Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris and some bird species (1981) Ibis, 123 (3), pp. 364-366PAYNE, R.B. 1997. Family Cuculidae (cuckoos). In Handbook of the birds of the world. 4. Sandgrouses to cuckoos (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliot & J. Sargatal, eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, p.508-607QUINN, J. & STARTEK-FOOTE, J.M. 2000. Smooth-billed ani (Crotophaga ani). In: The birds of North America, No. 539 (A. Poole & F. Gill, eds). The Birds of North America, Inc. Philadelphia. Online ed. Dois: 10.2173/bna.539ROSENBERG, D.K., WILSON, M.H., CRUZ, F., The distribution and abundance of the smooth-billed ani Crotophaga ani (L.) in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador (1990) Biol. Conserv, 51, pp. 113-123SAZIMA, I. 2007. Unexpected cleaners: black vultures (Coragyps atratus) remove debris, ticks, and peck at sores of capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), with an overview of tick-removing birds in Brazil. Rev. Bras. Ornitol. 15(1):417-426SAZIMA, I., SAZIMA, C., SILVA-JR, J.M., The cetacean offal connection: Feces and vomits of spinner dolphins as a food source for reef fishes (2003) Bull. Mar. Sci, 72 (1), pp. 151-160SICK, H., (1997) Ornitologia brasileira, , Editora Nova Fronteira, Rio de JaneiroTOMAZZONI, A.C., PEDÓ, E., HARTZ, S.M., Feeding associations between capybaras Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris (Linnaeus) (Mammalia, Hydrochaeridae) and birds in the Lami Biological Reserve, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (2005) Rev. Bras. Zool, 22, pp. 713-716WETHERBEE, B.M., GRUBER, S., ROSA, R.S., Movement patterns of juvenile lemon sharks Negaprion brevirostris within Atol das Rocas, Brazil: A nursery characterized by tidal extremes (2007) Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser, 343, pp. 283-29