Marcos Rodrigues

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Associate) at Federal University of Minas Gerais

The expansion of cities has increased the necessity of multidisciplinary strategies to reduce the impacts of urbanization on ecosystems. Here we present the Urban Biodiversity Suitability (UBS) Index, a spatially explicit tool that describes levels of environmental suitability for biodiversity based on several urbanistic and socioeconomic data thro...

Urban green spaces are important for bird conservation, functioning as a buffer against the impacts of human actions on their surroundings. However, green spaces also provide several benefits to humans, such as the improvement of climatic conditions and a more intimate contact with nature. In this point of view, divided into three sections, we desc...

Morphometric data of 111 bird species, and 1732 individuals, captured in mist nets over a period of 10 years, from February 1999 to October 2009, were presented. The captures were made in the locality of 'Lagoa das Capivaras', inserted in the Serra do Cipó National Park (-19.346023, -43.609918). The capture with misty nets consisted of the use of b...

A ariramba-da-cauda-ruiva (Galbula ruficauda) é uma espécie de ave neotropical com ocorrência associada a áreas próximas à água e barrancos, seja em bordas de mata ou regiões campestres. Constrói cavidades em barrancos para a nidificação e tem comportamento sedentário no forrageamento, alimentando-se principalmente de insetos voadores capturados pr...

Life-histories of neotropical birds seem to vary beyond what is expected according to patterns from northern temperate regions. This variation is well exemplified by saffron finches Sicalis flaveola in subtropical Brazil. They breed for five months on a climate that is relatively warm and rainy throughout the year. Females may attempt from one nest...

South American cities have been expanding extremely fast and with reduced urban planning, which can lead to significant biodiversity loss. In this study, it was assessed the potential consequences of unplanned urban growth on bird species inhabiting an area comprising a mosaic of forest and natural grasslands in the city of Belo Horizonte in Brazil...

Coloração aberrante de plumagem em aves é amplamente reportada na literatura, porém, é muito raramente documentada para a família Thamnophilidae e ainda não reportada para Rhinocryptidae. Pela primeira vez, nós reportamos coloração aberrante de plumagem provavelmente relacionada a leucismo parcial na choca-do-planalto Thamnophilus pelzelni e no tap...

Apresentamos os primeiros registros de nove espécies de aves para a região da Serra do Cipó, localizada no sul da Cadeia do Espinhaço, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Também relatamos registros adicionais notáveis que incluem novo habitat ou faixa altitudinal ou primeira documentação para oito espécies de aves raras ou ameaçadas na região. Além de contribuir...

Cipo Canastero Asthenes luizae is a relict ovenbird restricted to rocky outcrops at high elevations within the campo rupestre vegetation of the Espinhaço Range in the state of Minas Gerais, south-eastern Brazil. This poorly known species is considered ‘Near Threatened’, but recent studies have suggested that it should be listed under a higher categ...

Cipo Canasteros (Asthenes luizae, Furnariidae) have a fragmented and limited range restricted to the campos rupestres (rupestrian grasslands) habitat in the Brazilian highlands of the Espinhac ßo Range, and little is known about their behavior, ecology, and population biology. From March 2009 to November 2010, we monitored birds (24 banded and 22 r...

Available at: http://afonet.org/wp_english/using-radios-and-models-to-assess-extinction-risk-in-a-neotropical-highland-cinclodes. A blog post at the Association of Field Ornithologists about our research that investigated population and spatial aspects of a largely unknown Neotropical passerine: Cipo Cinclodes (Cinclodes espinhacensis). It is r...

The Cipo Cinclodes Cinclodes espinhacensis is a recently described furnariid endemic to the campos rupestres of Serra do Cipó, southern Espinhaço Range, southeastern Brazil. It is an “Endangered” species and its natural history is poorly known. We studied the Cipo Cinclodes breeding biology at Serra do Breu, where we found six nests on rock outcrop...

ABSTRACT (en): Birds in the genus Cinclodes are habitat specialists, with most restricted to the highlands of South America. The recently described Cipo Cinclodes (C. espinhacensis) is isolated in the southern Espinhaço Range of Brazil and is considered Endangered in Brazil and Near Threatened by the IUCN, but as a subspecies of Long‐tailed Cinclod...

SUPPORTING INFORMATION for the manuscript "Spatial ecology and conservation of the microendemic ovenbird Cipo Cinclodes (Cinclodes espinhacensis) from the Brazilian highlands", AVAILABLE AT: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jofo.12296. ORIGINAL FILE: Word document, 442.1 KB. ORIGINAL FILENAME: jofo12296-sup-0001-Supinfo.docx. DESCRIP...

Cipo Canastero (Asthenes luizae) is a bird endemic to Brazilian mountaintops, inhabiting rock outcrop habitats of the campos rupestres in the southern Espinhaço Range. Available data about Cipo Canastero’s breeding biology are scarce, incomplete or inconsistent. All nests found to date were built in the plant Vellozia nivea. Based on 84 nests found...

How are personalities maintained in wild animal populations? A possible mechanism is the existence of trade-offs between fitness components (survival and reproductive success) among behavioural types. We investigated this trade-off in white-rumped swallows ( Tachycineta leucorrhoa ) by capturing adults and monitoring their reproduction over time. W...

Studies about personalities in wild animals usually focus on five categories of behavioral traits that do not easily accommodate all aspects of parental care, a class of behaviors with direct consequence to reproductive success. Parental care can vary consistently between individuals and constitute parenting styles. Here we investigate the consiste...

Theory predicts that, even within the same population, birds may vary their breeding investment with age. This may be due to an improvement in individual quality of old birds in body condition, foraging and in nesting experience. Birds commonly signal age and individual quality to potential mates and competitors through plumage colour. Young male a...

Anthropogenic noise pollution is increasing and can constrain acoustic communication in animals. Our aim was to investigate if the acoustic parameters of loud calls and their diurnal pattern in the black-fronted titi monkey (Callicebus nigrifrons) are affected by noise produced by mining activity in a fragment of Atlantic Forest in Brazil. We insta...

The effects of streets on biodiversity is an important aspect of urban ecology, but it has been neglected worldwide. Several vegetation attributes (e.g. street tree density and diversity) have important effects on biodiversity and ecological processes. In this study, we evaluated the influences of urban vegetation—represented by characteristics of...

The 60 point counts selected within 20 categories of influences of herbaceous and arboreal vegetation and streets through the southern region of Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais, Brazil). (TIF)

Variation of the average variety of land use types of the southern region of Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais, Brazil) within buffers with different sizes. (TIF)

Definition of predictor variables. (PDF)

Multivariate additive models showing the influences of urban environmental variables on taxonomic data and functional diversity indices of the bird community inhabiting the streets of the southern region of Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais, Brazil). SRic: Species richness; SAbund: Species abundance; FRic: Functional richness; RaoQ: Rao’s Quadratic Inde...

Point counts’ selection. (PDF)

Sensitivity analysis performed for species richness, species abundance, Functional Richness (FRic) and Rao’s Quadratic Entropy (RaoQ) of the bird community inhabiting the streets of the southern region of Belo Horizonte. Only predictor variables located outside the range of 0.05 and -0.05 (black lines) were considered. It is possible to observe the...

Candidate models defined for the response variables related to the bird community inhabiting the streets of the southern region of Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais, Brazil), highlighting models with ΔAICc < 2.0. (PDF)

The composition of the urban vegetation that comprises the green infrastructure of a highly urbanized Neotropical city was mapped and described in order to assess how it can be used to preserve and maintain urban biodiversity. Supervised classification was used, followed by Map Algebra methodology, to identify the elements that comprise the green i...

Em um número anterior de Atualidades Ornitológicas, Straube (2013) tratou das Elaenia " verdes " e especialmente de como os ornitólogos, fotógrafos e observadores de aves estão fazendo identificações sem qualquer controle de qualidade e autocrítica. Neste artigo formulamos um novo alerta, tratando de outra espécie que há bem mais de um século merec...

Resumo A fragmentação de habitat é um dos maiores responsáveis pela redução de espécies no mundo. Com o intuito de se conhecer a riqueza de aves, já que são consideradas como bons indicadores ecológicos, realizou-se um levantamento da avifauna na Mata do Isidoro. A mata, também conhecida como Granja Werneck, localizada na região norte de Belo Horiz...

Great interest has been devoted to understand how agricultural matrix managements affect species flux in the patchy landscapes and agroforestry systems are known to enhance connectivity for forest dwelling species. In the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, high degree of fragmentation makes the implementation or the conservation of the existing agroforestr...

Hummingbird communities tend to respond to variation in resources, having a positive relationship between abundance and diversity of food resources and the abundance and/or diversity of hummingbirds. Here we examined the influence of floral resource availability, as well as seasonality and type of habitat on the composition of hummingbird species....

Among different approaches to exploring and describing the ecological complexity of natural environments, soundscape analyses have recently provided useful proxies for understanding and interpreting dynamic patterns and processes in a landscape. Nevertheless, the study of soundscapes remains a new field with no internationally accepted protocols. T...

Context Reptiles, especially snakes, can cause a fear reaction in the public and are, therefore, a good model to examine human–wildlife conflicts. Human city dwellers often respond to the presence of snakes or other reptiles by calling out the responsible agency for animal control, which has to mediate the situation. Aims To determine how the temp...

We report an additional new nest of the Greater Rhea (Rhea americana) found in intensive plantation of Eucalyptus, and describe the male's behavior when surprised in the nest while incubating the eggs. RESUMO: Nós reportamos um novo ninho de ema (Rhea americana) encontrado em plantação intensiva de Eucalyptus, e descrevemos o comportamento do mach...

We report an additional new nest of the Greater Rhea (Rhea americana) found in intensive plantation of Eucalyptus, and describe the male's behavior when surprised in the nest while incubating the eggs. RESUMO: Nós reportamos um novo ninho de ema (Rhea americana) encontrado em plantação intensiva de Eucalyptus, e descrevemos o comportamento do mach...

O capacetinho-do-oco-do-pau Poospiza cinerea é um passeriforme da família Emberizidae globalmente vulnerável, irregularmente distribuído e raro no Cerrado do centro da América do Sul. Atributos de espécies raras incluem especificidades de nicho tais como hábitos de forrageamento. Para verificar possível especialização de nicho dessa espécie, buscam...

O capacetinho-do-oco-do-pau Poospiza cinerea (Emberizidae) é um passeriforme neotropical de ambientes abertos, considerado raro e cuja população está em declínio devido à perda de habitat, sendo classificada como vulnerável. No entanto, a espécie tem sido observada com frequência em vários locais impactados, sugerindo que possa ser favorecida por e...

The hummingbird-visited plant community located on the open-habitat mountaintop of the Espinhaço Range was studied for two years (from August 2007 to July 2009) in Serra do Cipó National Park, Southeastern Brazil (19° 15' S and 43° 31' W). The floral characteristics and flowering period of the hummingbird-visited plants was monthly recorded along t...

Current techniques for estimating the extent of occurrence (EOO) of species, especially those with a naturally disjunct distribution and limited available data, lead to overestimations of their geographic distributions. Accurate EOO estimates are of great importance because they are used to assess conservation status. Topological methods, such as t...

Cinereous Warbling-Finch, Poospiza cinerea, is a poorly-known bird endemic to the Cerrado region and ‘Vulnerable’ to extinction. It has been suggested that this species may be nomadic because of its rarity and low density. We tested this suggestion throughout observations of two banded individuals in a ‘campos rupestres’ site at Serra do Cipó, stat...

The key demographic parameters of a population of Hyacinth Visorbearer, Augastes scutatus, an endemic hummingbird of the mountaintops of southeastern Brazil, are described for the first time. The study was conducted in the Alto do Palácio region, in the Serra do Cipó National Park, southeastern Brazil. Monthly, from August 2007 to July 2009, the Hy...

Frugivorous seed-dispersers play an important role in the maintenance or regeneration of plant populations and communities. Greater Rheas are potentially one of the most import dispersers of seeds in South American grassland biomes owing to their capacity to swallow large seeds and their habitat of walking long distances each day. We studied the po...

Animals kept by zoos may express abnormal behaviours that are indicators of poor welfare. Environmental enrichment is a technique of providing items to animals that stimulate the expression of normal behaviours. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of providing simple environmental enrichment in the reduction of the expression of abnor...

Medidas biométricas de aves, como massa corporal, asa, tarso, bico, occiput e comprimento são dados importantes para poder subsidiar estudos ecológicos sobre uma determinada espécie. Neste estudo, foram utilizados dados de capturas realizadas entre fevereiro de 1999 a outubro de 2009 na região de cerrado do Parque Nacional da Serra do Cipó (MG). Fo...

We describe Cinclodes espinhacensis (Furnariidae), a new species discovered at high elevation in the southern portion of the Espinhaço Range, in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. This new taxon is closely related to the Long-tailed Cinclodes Cinclodes pabsti, endemic to Serra Geral, southern Brazil. We present diagnostic morphological...

The capacity to recognize and respond to predators can be lost by captive animals. Habituation to humans caused by the captive environment can be transferred to other stimuli, such as predators, a situation that conservation biologists wish to avoid. Greater rheas are threatened South American birds, for which there are plans for reintroduction pro...

'Campos rupestres' comprises the open vegetation growing above 900 m altitude mainly along the Espinhaço Range, eastern Brazil. We presents the first thorough assessment concerning the bird community structure and dynamics in campos rupestres of southern Espinhaço, in the western slope of Serra do Cipó. We investigated the species richness, composi...

Visitors can affect and reduce the welfare of nonhuman animals. The Belo Horizonte Zoo, Brazil, had a group of greater rheas intended for reintroduction to the wild. Because this group received public visitation, evaluating its effect on the birds' behavior and welfare was important. The study conducted 60 hr of behavioral observations: 30 with, an...

We describe a nest and nesting activity of the Cinereous Warbling Finch (Poospiza cinerea) in Paredão da Serra do Curral City Park, State of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil. Little is known about the reproductive biology of this globally vulner-able species. The nest was built with fragments of grass spikes in an Australian pine (Casuarina equi...

Does people's knowledge about an endangered bird species differ between rural and urban communities? the case of the greater rhea (Rhea americana, rheidae) in Minas gerais, Brazil. Greater Rheas are threatened South American birds; habitat loss, predation and hunting are the main factors responsible for population declines. Populations of this spec...

The near-threatened Serra Finch (Embernagra longicauda) is restricted to the main mountain ranges in eastern Brazil inhabiting campos rupestres (rocky fields). We mapped 17 mated pairs in a 138-ha area within Serra do Cipó National Park; a density of 0.25 adults/ha. Estimated average territory size varied from 2.52 ± 0.77 ha (95% kernel) to 3.35 ±...

The play behavior of a Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) chasing a flock of White-naped Jay (Cyanocorax cyanopogon). Play behavior in birds is difficult to recognize and interpret, and poor documented in Brazil. In this note, we describe an opportunistic record of play behavior for a Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) individual chasing...

Play behavior in birds is difficult to recognize and interpret, and poor documented in Brazil. In this note, we describe an opportunistic record of play behavior for a Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) individual chasing a flock of White-naped Jay (Cyanocorax cyanopogon), in cerrado of southeastern Brazil. The Sharp-shinned Hawk individual pe...

Frugivorous seed-dispersers play an important role in the maintenance or regeneration of plant populations and communities. Greater Rheas are potentially one of the most import dispersers of seeds in South American grassland biomes owing to their capacity to swallow large seeds and their habitat of walking long distances each day. We studied the po...

Chestnut-Capped Foliage-Gleaner (Hylocryptus rectirostris) is a Neotropical ovenbird species (Furnariidae) endemic to gallery forests of the Cerrado region of central Brazil. While it is not considered globally threatened, the degree of habitat loss occurring throughout much of its known distribution may warrant its inclusion on red lists beyond ju...

The Hyacinth Visorbearer (Augastes scutatus) is a poorly known hummingbird endemic to the Cadeia do Espinhaço in southeastern Brazil and is classified as near threatened with global extinction. We verified size dimorphism of males and females, describe the plumage patterns of juveniles, and detail the reproductive period of this species in Serra do...

We surveyed the avifauna of Alto do Palácio, Serra do Cipó National Park, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The park lies in the southern Espinhaço range, a significant biogeographical barrier that separates the forest areas of the Atlantic Forest on its eastern slope and the savanna-like vegetation of the Cerrado to its western slope. Representative hab...

Zoos may play an important role in conservation when they maintain and breed large numbers of animals that are threatened with extinction. Bird conservation is in a privileged situation owing to the extensive biological information available about this class. Annual inventories produced by the "Sociedade de Zoológicos do Brasil" in the years 1981,...

Situação de conservação: a maior parte da área está desprotegida, embora existam as seguintes unidades de conservação: Parque Nacional do Peruaçu; estação ecológica de Pirapitinga; Áreas de Proteção ambiental (aPas) Lajedão, Cavernas do Peruaçu, Serra do Sabonetal e Bacia do rio Pandeiros; Parques estaduais Verde grande, Lagoa do Cajueiro, Veredas...

Polystictus superciliaris (Wied, 1831) is a small tyrant-flycatcher endemic to mountaintops in the highlands of eastern Brazil. In this paper we present the first description of the breeding biology of P. superciliaris and estimate its reproductive success from a population inhabiting rocky outcrops. This study was conducted during 2005 in the Parq...

The aim of this study was to evaluate activity–time budget, habitat use and how seasonality and group size influence the expression of greater rhea behaviours. Greater rheas are threatened South American birds; habitat loss, predation and hunting are the main factors responsible for population declines. The study was conducted in farmlands within a...

In bird species, several behavioural strategies have evolved to facilitate the avoidance of cuckoldry, such as mate guarding, frequent copulation, territory defence, and song signals. The present study describes mate guarding in the chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita, and reports an experimental manipulation aimed at discovering whether females eng...

Most known aspects of the breeding biology of the Chiffchaff come from studies carried out in Central Europe. This study documents aspects of its breeding biology in Britain by comparing data gathered during an intensive study in Wytham Woods (Oxford) from 1992 to 1994, and records from 1933 to 1993 held by the BTO's Nest Record Scheme. Comparison...

Montane open-habitats of southeastern Brazil are represented by the campos rupestres (principally in the Espinhaço Range) and by the campos de altitude (in the Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira). In spite of the occurrence of endemic species in both vegetation types, an analysis and synthesis of their bird communities have never been conducted....

Little is known about the birds associated with army-ant swarms in the Brazilian Atlantic forest. Our objectives were to locate and monitor army-ant swarms in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil and to identify the species of birds that attended the swarms and exhibited bivouac-checking behavior. From July 2004 to August 2005, we located 49 swarms of...

The Iron Quadrangle (IQ) is a region of southeastern Brazil known for having good-quality mineral deposits of worldwide economic importance. The iron extraction process causes large scale landscape transformations with unknown impact on the local biodiversity. This paper presents a bird list of a remnant forest fragment in the IQ. The surveyed area...

Islands can serve as model systems for understanding how biological invasions affect native species. Here we examine the negative effects of mesopredator mammals on bird richness at Anchieta Island, an 826 ha offshore island in the coast of Brazil. Anchieta Island has the highest density of mammals of the entire Atlantic forest, especially nest pre...

Nests and eggs of three closely related little known grassland species of southeastern Brazil are described and illustrated, those of the Pale-throated Serra-Finch for the first time. The nests were found within the limits of Serra do Cipó National Park, at Alto do Palácio (19°15'S, 43°31'W, ca. 1,300 m a.s.l.). The area is composed by a mosaic of...

The Cerrado is now considered the most threatened biome of South America. Northwestern Minas Gerais state, in southeastern Brazil, still harbors large areas of extreme importance for biological conservation of the Cerrado. The current study provides the first thorough assessment of the avifauna of a large remnant of Cerrado vegetation in this regio...

Nests and eggs of the Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch Emberizoides herbicola, the Lesser Grass-Finch Emberizoides ypiranganus, and the Pale-throated Serra-Finch Embernagra longicauda (Passeriformes: Emberizidae) in the Serra do Cipó National Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Nests and eggs of three closely related little known grassland species of southeastern...

Long-tailed Cinclodes Cinclodes pabsti is an ovenbird endemic to the highlands of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, southern Brazil; the remaining Cinclodes are mostly restricted to the Andes, ranging from Venezuela to Argentina (Tierra del Fuego) and some at very high elevations. The occurrence of Long-tailed Cinclodes in southern Brazil — dis...

The Brazilian Tanager, Ramphocelus bresilius, is an Atlantic Forest endemic bird, restricted to the east coast of Brazil, especially recorded for areas below 800 m of altitude. Five individuals were captured and marked at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais campus, located in the city of Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Braz...

Campo rupestre é o termo geral que designa as formações savânicas que se desenvolvem acima de 900m de altitude sobre solo quartzítico ao longo principalmente da Cadeia do Espinhaço. Embora a cadeia seja reconhecidamente um divisor entre três biomas, o campo rupestre é considerado uma fitofisionomia exclusiva do Cerrado. Na região da Serra do Cipó,...

Here, we provide the first description of the breeding biology of the Henna-browed Foliage-gleaner, Hylocryptus rectirostris (Wied, 1831). The foliage-gleaner was studied at the Serra do Cipó Nationa Park (Parque Nacional da Serra do Cipó), in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. Birds were marked with color bands and monitored through t...

Lagoa Santa, a small town in southeastern Brazil where naturalist Peter Lund lived, is regarded nowadays as an important historical site for the biological sciences. From 1847 to 1855, J.T. Reinhardt, hosted by Lund, collected 343 bird species. This material is an outstanding reference for many modern ornithological studies. The present paper repor...

Lesser Grass Finch Emberizoides ypiranganus ranges through south-east Brazil (São Paulo to Rio Grande do Sul) and adjacent Argentina and Paraguay. It was recently found in Minas Gerais at Rio Preto State Park. Here, we present further records for Minas Gerais, in the highest part of Serra do Cipó National Park. In the new locality, Lesser Grass Fin...

RESUMO Este artigo apresenta um breve histórico dos estudos ornitológicos conduzidos na região da Cadeia do Espinhaço, abordando a diversidade, o endemismo e a conservação de suas aves. A avifauna da Cadeia do Espinhaço foi primeiramente amostrada pelos naturalistas europeus no século XIX, sendo várias as instituições que abrigam espécimes. Mais re...

We examined the social structure and demography of a cooperative breeding population of the Rufous-fronted Thornbird Phacellodomus rufifrons, a neotropical ovenbird that inhabits open scrublands in South America. We focused on aspects potentially associated with the selective mechanisms underlying cooperative breeding: the origin and sex of helpers...

We investigate areas of use and territorial behavior of the Cinnamon Tanager Schistochlamys ruficapillus during its non-breeding season. Field work was carried out at Serra do Cipó, a mountainous region in southeastern Brazil. Observations were made between February and May, the non-breeding season for most of the bird species that occurs in the ar...

The present study describes the territorial system and foraging behavior of Hylocryptus rectirostris, an endemic bird of gallery forests of the Cerrado region in central South America. Field work was carried out from April 2004 to November 2005 at the 'Parque Nacional da Serra do Cipó' (19°20'S, 43°37'W), Santana do Riacho city, state of Minas Gera...