Large Terrestrial Bird Adapting Behavior in an Urbanized Zone

Abstract

Simple Summary

As the world becomes increasingly urbanized and encroaches on natural environments, wildlife face pressure to adapt to human activities. Understanding the adaptation processes of wildlife living in urban areas is an important step in the implementation of management decisions and regulatory policies, which should aim to minimise human–wildlife conflicts in cities. We investigated a rare case of the Red-legged Seriema, a large-sized terrestrial bird, occurring in an urbanized zone in a Neotropical city. We described their behaviors and assessed their distribution based on hundreds of data provided by citizen scientists. We discovered that Seriemas are occurring in the same space occupied by many free-ranging cats within the study area, which are being supported by humans offering food provisions. Humans are also providing food for Seriemas directly. The species is also benefiting from using human-made structures to improve their behavior related to territory defense and opportunistic foraging. However, some are still unable to avoid car collisions, which is a threat to their persistence in this area. Our study suggests that humans may be contributing to the domestication process of Seriemas, which may lead to them losing fear of humans, but not necessarily acquiring behavior that is advantageous to survival in cities.

Abstract

Wildlife living within urban ecosystems have to adapt or perish. Red-legged Seriema, a large terrestrial bird, are rare in urban ecosystems, however, they have been reported in a medium-sized Brazilian city. We investigated the reasons for this occurrence as well as their behavior. We assessed the distribution of Seriemas (including fledglings), free-ranging cats, and cat-feeding points provided by humans, and past records of Seriemas in the study area. We discovered that Seriemas are sharing spatial resources with cats without apparent conflicts, and intraspecific competition was important to define the spatial distribution of Seriemas. This species is able to use human-made structures to improve territory defense and opportunistic foraging. Direct and indirect human food provisioning is helping them to survive in the studied area, but is also facilitating the domestication process, which may cause future conflicts with humans and cats. Although Seriemas have inhabited the studied urban area for years, they are still adapting their behaviors for urban life, as they have not yet perceived the dangers of automotive traffic. Our study corroborates that wild species may adapt to urban areas driven by human contact, but it also acts as a trap for the adaptive process.