First nest description, breeding, ranging and foraging behaviour of the Short-legged Ground Roller Brachypteracias leptosomus in Madagascar

The secretive, endemic Short-legged Ground-Roller Brachypteracias leptosomu s was studied from October 1996 to February 1997 on the Masoala Peninsula, northeast Madagascar. Several vocalizations were associated with contact, c ourtship feeding and food solicitation. One study pair ranged within an are a of 19.1 ha and spent 90% of their time together. They used small trees fo r foraging and resting, and durations of perch time averaged 9.8 min. Of th e 229 identified prey items recorded, 88% were invertebrates and 12% verteb rates. The first described nests for this species were observed in December 1996 and January 1997. The first nest was in a natural tree cavity 18. 1 m above the ground in a 133-cm diameter-at-breast height (dbh) Weinmannia sp ., and it contained at least one egg. This nest failed on 1 January 1997 wh en a swarm of Honey Bees Apis mellifera took over the cavity. On 7 January, the pair began excavating another nest 22 m above the ground in a 174-cm d bh Canarium madagascarense, in the root mass and decayed material of epiphy tes and below a l-m diameter forked branch. Incubation lasted between 22-26 days and the nestling period was 30 days. One young fledged in March 1997.