Keywords
feathers
nest
nest building
Tachycineta leucorrhoa
Abstract
The architecture of White-rumped Swallow´s (Tachycineta leucorrhoa) nests has not been described yet, and probably varies along with the cavity in which they are built. We describe the stages of nest construction, their architecture and components at nests built in nest-boxes of equal dimensions. White-rumped Swallow used 25% of the available height to build the nest, and placed the nest cup in the center of the box (where maximum thermal isolation from external temperature is expected) and never on the wall close to the box entrance (where the risk of predation is maximum). As the breeding season progressed, swallows built the mat of dried grass faster, began to lay eggs with fewer feathers lining the cup, and completed the nest in fewer days. In spite of this, the number of feathers in the cup and crown (the area outside the cup on top of nest material) was higher at the end of the breeding season than at the beginning. We found no relationship between nesting success and the time of the breeding season or the composition of the nest. We compared the nests built by White-rumped Swallows with those of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) from the Northern Hemisphere.
References
ALLEN PE (1996) Breeding biology and natural his-tory of the Bahama Swallow. Wilson Bulletin108:380–495
ANDRÉN H (1995) Effects of landscape compositionon predation rates at habitat edges. Pp. 225–255 en:HANSSON L, FAHRIG L Y MERRIAM G (eds) Mosaic land-scapes and ecological processes. Chapman & Hall,Londres
BRYANT DM (1975) Breeding biology of House Mar-tins (Delichon urbica) in relation to aerial insect abun-dance. Ibis 117:180–216
COLLIAS NE Y COLLIAS EC (1984) Nest building and birdbehavior. Princeton University Press, Princeton
DUNN EH (1979) Age of effective homeothermy innestling Tree Swallows according to brood size.Wilson Bulletin 91:455–457
GUSTAFSSON L Y NILSSON SG (1985) Clutch size andbreeding success of Pied and Collared flycatchers(Ficedula spp.) in nest-boxes of different sizes. Ibis127:380–385
HASSELQUIST D, WASSON MF Y WINKLER DW (2001)Humoral immunocompetence correlates with dateof egg-laying and reflects work load in female treeswallows. Behavioral Ecology 12:93–97
KARLSSON J Y NILSSON SG (1977) The influence ofnest-box area on clutch size in some hole-nestingpasserines. Ibis 119:207–211
LOMBARDO MP (1994) Nest architecture and repro-ductive performance in Tree Swallows (Tachycinetabicolor). Auk 111:814–824
MARSH RL (1980) Development of temperature regu-lation in nestling Tree Swallows. Condor 82:461–463
MERTENS JAL (1977) Thermal conditions for success-ful breeding in Great Tits (Parus major). II. Thermalproperties of nests and nest boxes and their impli-cations for the range of temperature tolerance ofGreat Tits broods. Oecologia 28:31–56
MØLLER AP (1982) Clutch size in relation to nest sizein the Swallow (Hirundo rustica). Ibis 124:339–343
MØLLER AP (1984) On the use of feathers in bird nests:predictions and tests. Ornis Scandinavica 15:38–42
NRCC (2004) The Ithaca climate page. NortheastRegional Climate Center, Ithaca. URL: http://www.nrcc.cornell.edu/climate/ithaca/index.html
O’CONNOR RJ (1978). Nest box insulation and the tim-ing of laying in Whytham Woods population ofGreat Tits (Parus major). Ibis 120:534–537
DELA PEÑA MR (1996) Ciclo reproductivo de las aves ar-gentinas. Segunda parte. L.O.L.A., Buenos Aires
DELA PEÑA MR (2002) Observaciones sobre la repro-ducción de las aves en cajas-nidos, en la Reserva dela Escuela Granja (UNL), Esperanza, Argentina.Revista FAVE-Ciencias Veterinarias 1:79–82
PERRINS CM (1970) The timing of birds’ breedingseason. Ibis 112:242–255
PRICE T, KIRKPATRICK M Y ARNOLD SJ (1988) Directionalselection and the evolution of breeding date in birds.Science 240:798–799
RIDGELY RS Y TUDOR G (1989) The birds of South America.The oscine passerines. Oxford University Press,Oxford
ROBERTSON RJ, STUTCHBURY BJ Y COHEN RR (1992) TreeSwallow (Tachycineta bicolor). Pp. 1–28 en: POOLE A,STETTENHEIM P Y GILL F (eds) The birds of NorthAmerica. Academy of Natural Sciences y AmericanOrnithologists’ Union, Philadelphia y Washington DC
SLAGSVOLD T (1987) Nest site preference and clutchsize in the Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca). OrnisScandinavica 18:189–197
SMN (2000) Sitio web del Servicio MeteorológicoNacional. Servicio Meteorológico Nacional, FuerzaAérea Argentina, Buenos Aires. URL: http://www.meteofa.mil.ar/
SOKAL RR Y ROHLF FJ (1995) Biometry. WH Freeman &Company, New York
SORIANO O (1991) Rio de la Plata grassland. Pp. 367–407en: COUPLAND RT (ed) Natural grasslands. Introduc-tion and Western Hemisphere. Elsevier, Amsterdam
STUTCHBURY BJ Y ROBERTSON RJ (1988) Whithin seasonand age-related patterns of reproductive perfor-mance in female Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor).Canadian Journal of Zoology 66:827–834
WARDROP SL E YDENBERG RC (2003). Date and paren-tal quality effects in the seasonal decline in repro-ductive performance of the Tree Swallow Tachycinetabicolor: interpreting results in light of potential ex-perimental bias. Ibis 145:439–447
WHITE FN Y KINNEY JL (1974). Avian incubation. Science186:107–115
WINKLER DW (1993) Use and importance of feathersas nest lining in Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor).Auk 110:29–36
WINKLER DW Y ALLEN PE (1996) The seasonal declinein Tree Swallow clutch size: physiological constraintor strategic adjustment? Ecology 77:922–932
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.