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A non-destructive approach to collect nest material data using photographs

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Shoko SugasawaORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Abstract

© 2021 The Authors. Ibis published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ornithologists' UnionThe materials that birds use to build their nests have a profound effect on nest quality and consequently on the builder’s reproductive success. Given that the common method to quantify nest materials by dismantling nests takes time and limits study species, we developed a non-destructive and much quicker method for quantifying nest materials using nest photographs. Using our photographic method, the proportions of the main materials in 45 Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus and 20 Dartford Warbler Sylvia undata nests, including grass, heather and moss, matched those found by dismantling the nests, but the proportions of rarer animal-derived materials differed between the two methods. Provided that there is an initial calibration with the dismantling method, the photographic method offers two key advantages: a reduction in the time it takes to quantify the major components of nests, and application to previously inaccessible data, including museum collections. Together, these advantages encourage further study of nesting materials and enable a better understanding of avian nest diversification.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Sugasawa S, Edwards SC, Stanforth R, Bruton E, Hansell M, Reilly M, Healy SD

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Ibis

Year: 2021

Volume: 163

Issue: 4

Pages: 1457-1462

Print publication date: 01/10/2021

Online publication date: 21/04/2021

Acceptance date: 11/04/2021

Date deposited: 06/11/2024

ISSN (print): 0019-1019

ISSN (electronic): 1474-919X

Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Inc

URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12961

DOI: 10.1111/ibi.12961

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