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).

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).

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 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 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.

While nest attentiveness plays a critical role in the reproductive success of avian species, little is known regarding the nest attentiveness patterns of many species during incubation. However, improvements in both video monitoring and temperature logging devices present an opportunity to improve our understanding of this aspect of avian behavior. To evaluate the ability of these technologies to document fine scale behaviors during incubation we monitored 13 nests across two Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) breeding colonies with a paired video camera - temperature logger approach, while monitoring 63 additional nests with temperature loggers alone. We also monitored nests and recorded hatching success, allowing us to asses the impacts of these devices.

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.