Heterogeneous movement of insectivorous Amazonian birds through primary and secondary forest: A case study using multistate models with radiotelemetry data

• We radio-tracked three avian insectivores in primary and secondary Amazonian forest.
• Multi-state models quantified forest recovery time via avian movement probabilities.
• Both woodcreeper species recovered by 12–18 years after land abandonment.
• Formicarius colma, a terrestrial insectivore, takes at least 30 years to recover.
• Time-to-recovery estimates can help managers maximize landscape connectivity.

Given rates of deforestation, disturbance, and secondary forest accumulation in tropical rainforests, there is a great need to quantify habitat use and movement among different habitats. This need is particularly pronounced for animals most sensitive to disturbance, such as insectivorous understory birds. Here we use multistate capture–recapture models with radiotelemetry data to determine the successional stage at which within-day movement probabilities of Amazonian birds in secondary forest are similar to those in primary forest. We radio-tracked three common understory insectivore species in primary and secondary forest at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments project near Manaus, Brazil: two woodcreepers, Glyphorynchus spirurus (n = 19) and Xiphorhynchus pardalotus (n = 18), and the terrestrial antthrush Formicarius colma (n = 19). Forest age was a strong predictor of fidelity to a given habitat. All three species showed greater fidelity to primary forest than to 8–14-year-old secondary forest, indicating the latter’s relatively poor quality. The two woodcreeper species used 12–18-year-old secondary forest in a manner comparable to continuous forest, but F. colma avoided moving even to 27–31-year-old secondary forest—the oldest at our site. Our results suggest that managers concerned with less sensitive species can assume that forest reserves connected by 12–18-year-old secondary forest corridors are effectively connected. On the other hand, >30 years are required after land abandonment before secondary forest serves as a primary forest-like conduit for movement by F. colma; more sensitive terrestrial insectivores may take longer still.