Patterns of molting and breeding in a revegetation area in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil

Molting and breeding cycles usually have little overlap due to the high energetic costs involved, being synchronized and temporally well defined in tropical avian communities. However, in areas that are degraded and/or under restoration, environmental stresses could locally change these patterns. This study aims to analyze patterns of molting and breeding of the bird community in a revegetation area in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil, evaluating its temporal overlap. We recorded three environmental variables (temperature, rainfall and photoperiod) to analyze their relation to the described events. We carried out field sampling from May 2016 to April 2017 using mist nets, and we had 85 captures from 36 species. The breeding time started in July, peaking in November, and was not affected by any of the tested environmental variables. The molting period was concentrated between August and April, and peaked in January, being influenced by temperature and photoperiod. The overlap between these events was 11 % (n=9), but only one individual had an incubation patch on its maximum stage, which confirms the tendency to avoid the overlap of these cycles in our study area.