Uso de rizomorfos em ninhos de aves da Amazônia e conhecimento indígena do povo Baniwa na bacia do rio Ayari

Abstract

The birds known as towiri by the Baniwa people include three species: Psarocolius decumanus Pallas, P. bifasciatus Spix, and P. viridis Statius Muller. These are commonly referred to as japu, japuguaçu and japu-verde in Portuguese, and as crested oropendola, olive oropendola and green oropendola in English, respectively. This study investigated the use of rhizomorphs in nests built by P. decumanus. Females of this species build large, pocket-shaped nests, forming colonies of 7 to 12 nests in tall trees. We examined P. decumanus nests collected from two localities in Manaus, and Psarocolius sp. from São Gabriel da Cachoeira in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Addiotionally, we conducted phylogenetic analyses based on Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) sequences to identify the incorporated rhizomorphs, which belonged to Marasmius neocrinis equi R.A Koch & Aime. This is the first report of this fungal species in Brazil. Furthermore, we discuss the role of Psarocolius spp. in the traditions of the Baniwa indigenous people and report the observation of kite strings in P. decumanus nests in an urban area of Manaus, Brazil. In addition, we found that seven bird species with reports of using rhizomorphs were not listed in previous reviews, so the number of bird species with use of rhizomorphs is updated here from 176 to 183 species. From the cross-referencing of bibliographic surveys from the Bird Guide of the Cubate River published in 2024, with the literature on birds that use rhizomorphs for nest construction, we found that 16 species reported as users of rhizomorphs in nest construction occur in the Cubate River region, approximately 200 km in a straight line from the Ayarí River region.