The nesting requirements of the parrots and hornbill of Sumba, Indonesia Original Research Article

A total of 132 nests of Sumbaʹs parrots and endemic hornbill were located. Nearly half were in trees containing other parrot or hornbill nests (one tree contained five nests). All but one bird species selected very large trees to nest in (mean HEIGHT = 38 m). Deciduous trees of the family Datiscaceae were very strongly preferred, with between 8% (Geoffroyus geoffroyi) and 83% (Eclectus roratus) of nests in two species of this family. Discriminant analysis indicated that if nests of the heavily-traded Cacatua sulphurea were high up the tree, they were safe from being raided by parrot catchers. A nest site availability index was calculated for individual bird species in each of six forest areas. There was some evidence for a correlation between potential nest site availability and parrot and hornbill abundance at the forest sites.