title: Gestural communication in a new world parrot.
abstract: Male birds can use visual signals to provide information about their sexual status, via bright coloration, sophisticated sexual displays and elaborate tail and head crests. The majority of forest bird species use vocal communication as their main strategy to show their physiological status during breeding season. It is also used to keep contact between individuals in the same group, in agonistic contexts, and by chicks begging for food. We registered, for the very first time, gestural communication acting in the context of biparental care for the Orange-winged Amazon, Amazona amazonica. This parrot presents at least nine different sounds uttered in contexts of alarm, agonistic, foraging, contact flight and others. This finding suggests that despite being a vocal species, this parrot can perform gestural communication related to parental care. The gestures exhibited by this species represent a strategy for survival, a clever way to protect the nest, reducing the risk of attracting the attention of predators.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ornitologia e Bioacústica, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil. Electronic address: leilianym@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Leiliany N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Moura
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ornitologia e Bioacústica, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil. Electronic address: mluisa@ufpa.br.
authors.forename: Maria L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ecologia e Desenvolvimento, Núcleo de Teoria e Pesquisa do Comportamento, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil. Electronic address: marilicegarotti@uol.com.br.
authors.forename: Marilice M F
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Garotti
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ornitologia e Bioacústica, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil. Electronic address: birologa@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Angélica L F
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ecologia e Desenvolvimento, Núcleo de Teoria e Pesquisa do Comportamento, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil. Electronic address: drica_to2003@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Adrine C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ecologia e Desenvolvimento, Núcleo de Teoria e Pesquisa do Comportamento, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil. Electronic address: ivbeiro@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Ivete F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
mesh_terms: D046708:Amazona / Q000502:physiology*; D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D005868:Gestures; D008297:Male; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Amazon parrots; Biparental care; Breeding behavior; Communication; Gestures