Total budget: 44.020.000 HUF

Project manager: Dr. András Kosztolányi

Duration:

from 1st December 2017. to 31th March 2023.

 

Summary:

Birds nesting on the ground are facing a high probability of predation of the eggs and the parent sitting on the nest.However, predation is just one factor that influences nest site selection. A nest in an open area may be beneficial because apredator can be detected early, whereas a nest under vegetation (e.g. a small bush) providing shade for the eggs may beneficial because it decreases probability of the death of embryos caused by overheating. In a small, ground nestingshorebird species, the Kentish plover the amount of vegetation cover varies between the nests. Beside the predation andthermal conditions, the optimal nest site selection may be influenced by two further factors in this species. First, both parentsincubate and the sexes have different incubation schedule: females incubate during daytime, while males incubate mostlyduring night. Thus for females a nest with vegetation cover (good against overheating), whereas for males an open nest site(good for early predator detection) would be optimal. That is, the two parents may have different optima and this can causeconflict between them. Second, our data suggest that parents show consistent differences in nest site selection: someindividuals prefer closed whereas others prefer open nests. In the proposed project in a series of observations andexperiments we plan to study the natural variation in nest site selection and the effect of conflict between the parents andpersonal preferences on nest site selection. We anticipate that the results of these studies will provide interesting results notonly for the scientists but also for nature conservation aiming to protect shorebird species.