This dataset describes incubation recess timing for mallard and gadwall hens nesting in Grizzly Island Wildlife Area in breeding seasons 2015-2017. It includes the start time, end time, and duration of recesses.

This dataset describes nocturnal incubation recess behavior for mallard and gadwall hens nesting in Grizzly Island Wildlife Area in breeding seasons 2015-2018. It includes the frequency, start time and duration of recesses, and details a method for determining whether a recess was initiated in response to a predator at the nest using nest temperature data. These data support the following publication: Croston, R.L., Peterson, S.H., Hartman, C.A., Herzog, M.P., Feldheim, C.L., Casazza, M.L., Ackerman, J.T., 2021. Nocturnal incubation recess and flushing behavior by duck hens. Ecology and Evolution

This dataset describes nocturnal incubation recess behavior for mallard and gadwall hens nesting in Grizzly Island Wildlife Area in breeding seasons 2015-2018. It includes the frequency, start time and duration of recesses, and details a method for determining whether a recess was initiated in response to a predator at the nest using nest temperature data. These data support the following publication: Croston, R.L., Peterson, S.H., Hartman, C.A., Herzog, M.P., Feldheim, C.L., Casazza, M.L., Ackerman, J.T., 2021. Nocturnal incubation recess and flushing behavior by duck hens. Ecology and Evolution

This dataset describes responses to flushes by surveyors and predators for mallard and gadwall hens nesting on the Grizzly Island Wildlife Area, Suisun Marsh, California in 2015 through 2018. It includes the start time and duration of recesses, as well as the cause of recess initiation and responses of hens to various trapping activities at the nest site.

This dataset includes daily nest attendance (proportion of time females spent at the nest), incubation constancy (proportion of time females maintained their nests at nest-specific incubation temperatures), nest temperature variation, and the duration of individual incubation bouts for three species of dabbling ducks (mallard, gadwall, and cinnamon teal) nesting in Suisun Marsh, California during 2015-2019.

This dataset includes daily nest attendance (proportion of time females spent at the nest), incubation constancy (proportion of time females maintained their nests at nest-specific incubation temperatures), nest temperature variation, and the duration of individual incubation bouts for three species of dabbling ducks (mallard, gadwall, and cinnamon teal) nesting in Suisun Marsh, California during 2015-2019.

These data include a row for each duck nest equipped with a small video camera. We present the location of the nest, the timing of the start of hatch, the timing of the end of hatch, and the timing of the departure of the hen and ducklings from the nest. Additionally, this table includes any predators that were observed at the nest depredating eggs prior to hatch and any predators that were observed at the nest between hatch and departure from the nest. These data support the following publication: "Sitting ducklings: Timing of hatch, nest departure, and predation risk for dabbling duck broods" by Sarah H. Peterson, Joshua T. Ackerman, Mark P. Herzog, C. Alex Hartman, Rebecca Croston, Cliff L. Feldheim, and Michael L. Casazza in Ecology and Evolution.

These data include a row for each duck nest equipped with a small video camera. We present the location of the nest, the timing of the start of hatch, the timing of the end of hatch, and the timing of the departure of the hen and ducklings from the nest. Additionally, this table includes any predators that were observed at the nest depredating eggs prior to hatch and any predators that were observed at the nest between hatch and departure from the nest. These data support the following publication: "Sitting ducklings: Timing of hatch, nest departure, and predation risk for dabbling duck broods" by Sarah H. Peterson, Joshua T. Ackerman, Mark P. Herzog, C. Alex Hartman, Rebecca Croston, Cliff L. Feldheim, and Michael L. Casazza in Ecology and Evolution.

These data are outputs from a mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) reproduction model that accounts for breeding ground arrival time and the body mass of individuals. Specifically, adult female mallards that arrive late or with lower body mass have the potential for lower clutch sizes and are less likely to renest if a nest fails. The model is based on an existing mallard reproduction model that simulates mallards breeding in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America. We augmented the model using additional sources that provide alternative calculation of adult survival, first nest initiation probability, nest initiation date, renesting probability, renesting interval, brood loss date, and brood-rearing period. We also added components to the model that allow survival of adults, nests, and broods to increase. Changes to body mass and migration timing are both potential impacts of oil spills, so we executed the model with populations of 1000 female mallards that had different mean arrival dates and mean body masses. Model results are presented at the level of population and contain information such as survival rates for adults, nests, and broods; number of nests created by the population of adults, and the production of ducklings per adult female. In addition to model outputs, this release contains a pair of scripts that run the model.

Parental incubation behavior largely influences nest survival, a critical demographic process in avian population dynamics, and behaviors vary across species with different life history breeding strategies. Although research has identified nest survival advantages of mixing colonies, behavioral mechanisms that might explain these effects is largely lacking. We examined parental incubation behavior using video-monitoring techniques on Alcatraz Island, California, of black-crowned night-heron Nycticorax nycticorax (hereinafter, night-heron) in a mixed-species colony with California gulls Larus californicus and western gulls L. occidentalis. We first quantified general nesting behaviors, incubation constancy, and nest attendance, and a suite of specific nesting behaviors (i.e. inactivity, vigilance, preening, and nest maintenance) with respect to six different daily time periods. We employed linear mixed effects models to investigate environmental and temporal factors as sources of variation in incubation constancy and nest attendance using 211 nest days across three nesting seasons (2010–2012). We found incubation constancy (percent of time on the eggs) and nest attendance (percent of time at the nest) were lower for nests that were located < 3 m from one or more gull nest, which indirectly supports the predator protection hypothesis, whereby heterospecifics provide protection allowing more time for foraging and other self-maintenance activities. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical evidence of the influence of one nesting species on the incubation behavior of another. We also identified distinct differences between incubation constancy and nest attentiveness, indicating that these biparental incubating species do not share similar energetic constraints as those that are observed for uniparental species. Additionally, we found that variation in incubation behavior was a function of temperature and precipitation, where the strength of these effects was dependent on the time of day. Overall, these findings strengthen our understanding of incubation behavior and nest ecology of a colonial-nesting species. This dataset includes variables associated with nesting gulls (VICIN and GULL10).