INTERSPECIFIC FEEDING BY A RED-NECKED TANAGER TANGARA CYANOCEPHALA PAIR TO VIOLACEOUS EUPHONIA EUPHONIA VIOLACEA NESTLINGS

Interspecific feeding, the provisioning of young of another species, is a rare, non-adaptive behavior in birds. On 22 February 2025, during a birdwatching trip to the Parque Nacional da Tijuca, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, A. Rayegani detected a Violaceous Euphonia Euphonia violacea nest. He observed the nest for 0.5-2 h on four days over a 14-day period. On 22, 26, and 28 February 2025, both the Euphonia parents and a pair of Red-necked Tanagers Tangara cyanocephala fed the three Euphonia nestlings at the nest entrance. This non-adaptive feeding by the tanagers may have been caused by the loss of their eggs or nestlings, which triggered the transfer of their misplaced parental instincts onto the Euphonia brood. Our observation is the first report of interspecific feeding in the tropics that did not involve brood parasitism and contributes to our knowledge of this non-adaptive behavior in Neotropical birds.