Injuries to a Whiskered Screech-Owl (Megascops trichopsis) chick inflicted by a Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) in a nest cavity

Headnote

ABSTRACT-We report the case of a Whiskered Screech-Owl (Megascops trichopsis) chick injured by a Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) during the breeding season of 2013 in the La Malinche National Park in Mexico. On 17 May, a pair of owls was nesting in a mature Pinus montezumae with one owlet between 14 and 21 d old. On 21 May a flicker began to use the same cavity, apparently preparing the interior for nesting; on 27 May the owlet showed injuries that might have caused its death later, in early June. Received 28 July 2017. Accepted 25 October 2018.

Key words: cavity nest, nest competition, Northern Flicker, owlet attacked, Whiskered Screech-Owl.

RESUMEN (Spanish)-En esta nota, presentamos el primer reporte de lesiones causadas a una cría de tecolote rítmico (Megascops trichopsis) por un carpintero de pechera comun (Colaptes auratus) en la temporada del 2013, en el Parque Nacional La Malinche, Mexico. Una pareja de tecolotes estaba anidando en un arbol de Pinus montezumae, el 17 de mayo, con una cría de entre 14 y 21 días de eclosionado. El 21 de mayo un carpintero de pechera empezo a utilizar la misma cavidad, aparentemente preparando el interior para anidar; el 27 de mayo la cría de buho presento lesiones que pudieron provocar su posterior muerte a principios de junio.

Palabras clave: ataque a tecolotito, Carpintero de Pechera Comun, cavidad nido, competencia por nido, Tecolote Rítmico.

It is well known that the cavities built by woodpeckers can be used by secondary cavitynesting birds when an area has a limited number of cavities (Newton 1994, Cornelius et al. 2008, Cockle et al. 2011). Primary and secondary cavitynesters can compete for nesting cavities, even for reusing them; thus, during the breeding season birds defend this resource from potential competitors (Aitken et al. 2002). The defense of cavities can involve threats or outright attacks (Paclík et al. 2009). Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus) are considered primary cavity-nesters because they excavate their nesting cavities (Arsenault 2004). When the cavities created by woodpeckers are not used after the first nesting, other birds can use them, such as small owls (Belthoff and Ritchison 1990, König and Weick 2008, Paclík et al. 2009). It has been found that some degree of interspecific tolerance exists in the use...