Until recently, urban environments were considered unattractive for ecological research due to the loss of original environmental conditions (e.g., lower species richness and presence of exotic species), pedestrian activity, and many other factors associated with the city itself. Despite a recent growing interest in species that inhabit urban areas, relatively few studies report capturing animals in these environments. In this paper, our aim is to foster capture studies in urban areas by sharing lessons learned and methodological adaptations developed during a bird study that involved extensive use of mist nets in areas with different degrees of urbanization throughout a large city. We report how a few adaptations to the mist net sampling method and the adoption of a few simple protocols allowed us to (1) sample in several locations in the city, under different scenarios, and (2) positively interact with the local community, generating public engagement.

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