MÉTODOS DE OBSERVAÇÃO DIRETA EM ESTUDOS SOBRE COMPORTAMENTO DE FORRAGEAMENTO DE AVES.

Resumo

ABSTRACT -- Methods of direct observation in studies on foraging behavior of birds.

            The methods of direct observation of animal behaviour can be classified into single or sequential methods. The sequential observational are suitable for surveys of rare species and those difficult to see among dense vegetation or when behaviours rates and transitions are important for research. However, the selection of sequential observations denotes problems related to the dependency between records, since these have correlated errors that promote an underestimated value of the sample variance. Statistical tools that allow statistical adjustment for auto--correlation should be used in these cases. The generalized linear mixed models can contribute to the analysis of continuous records by modeling the random part including a variance-covariance matrix.

Key words: sequential methods of observation; foraging; birds.