Breeding Biology Research and Data Availability for New World Flycatchers

Life-history strategies of Neotropical birds differ markedly from their Nearctic counterparts, yet the lack of detailed information on most Neotropical species hinders meaningful comparisons. We performed a gap analysis with several basic life-history traits of New World flycatchers of the subfamily Fluvicolinae. We found breeding data - mostly on clutch sizes and linear egg measurements - in 303 publications spanning the years 1838 to 2012. Data from the USA and Argentina were more abundant, with the number of publications per country being significantly and positively related to human development index (HDI) and Fluvicolinae breeding species richness. The amount of available clutch size information for each species was positively related to species' range size and relative abundance. More research is needed concerning narrowly distributed and uncommon species. Additional efforts to gather data on all Neotropical species are, however, crucial for future advancements.