From June 1998 to December 1999, five breeding events of the aplomado falcon (Falco femoralis) were studied in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais State, southeastern Brazil. While two nests were observed during two breeding seasons (1998/ 1999), a third one was studied during only one (1999). The nests were placed in isolated trees located at 5.1 to 7.2 m above the ground near pasture areas. The breeding period started at the end of the dry season and beginning of the wet one. (laying in August and September). From 15 eggs laid, predators attacked three of them and three were abandoned by the parents, possibly due to human disturbance. Mean number of eggs laid per nest was three and the birth rate of nestlings was 1.6 + 1,5. Eight nestlings were born from the total of eggs laid. The average number of fledglings per nest was 1.4 + 1,5 (six in the first year and one in the second). Except for a pair of falcons that left the nest site in 1999, the others remained at the original breeding sites during the period of study. An abandoned nest was utilised and the biggest nest was 77 cm in diameter, 32 cm high and 25 cm deep. The breeding biology of aplomado falcons in this area is similar to the different regions where this species has been studied. Variation in latitude and climate does not seem to affect the species breeding pattern.
breeding; aplomado falcon; Falco femoralis; Falconidae; southeastern Brazil