Sarah Legge, Sarah Legge, Robert Heinsohn and Robert Heinsohn

Abstract

We describe the breeding biology and site fidelity of the buff-breastedparadise kingfisher (Tanysiptera sylvia), which migrateseach year from New Guinea to breed in north-east Australia. In a three-yearstudy at the Iron Range National Park in Cape York, Australia, we collecteddata from 91 breeding attempts (49 territories), and banded 77 adults and 101nestlings (47 broods) to determine site fidelity. Paradise kingfishers arrivedat Iron Range when the first major rains fell after the dry season. Theynested exclusively in terrestrial termitaria, avoiding mounds that were toosmall, too close to a neighbouring territory, or mounds where the termiteswere absent. They were single-brooded, but laid a second clutch if their firstattempt failed early. Clutch size was usually three, incubation lasted 25days, nestlings hatched asynchronously and fledged after 27 days. Of 114nestlings, 48.2% were male. Each breeding territory produced an averageof 1.5 fledglings per year. The main factors influencing nesting success werepredation, which ended 33% of all attempts, and brood reduction, whichaffected 24% of nests. Hatch failure was rare (3.2%). Birds weresexually mature at one year. Nearly half of the breeding adults banded in thefirst year of the study were still alive two years later, making them at leastfour years old. The return rates of banded adults varied among years(56–84%), but were similar for the two sexes. Returning birdsalmost always settled on the same territory with the same partner as theprevious year, thus they formed long-term pair-bonds. In all, 7% ofbreeding pairs were assisted at the nest by an additional male, who wasprobably not their offspring.