High temperatures and poor habitat reduce nestling condition and survival in a tropical songbird

Climate change and habitat degradation are major threats to wildlife worldwide. Although developing animals are particularly sensitive to their impacts, with fitness consequences for individuals that cascade to population persistence, their combined effect and potential interaction are rarely considered. Here we address this in an indicator species for a biodiverse riparian ecosystem in Australia’s tropical savanna, an understudied region threatened by habitat loss and climate change.
We investigate the effect of habitat, temperature and rainfall on nestling condition and subsequent survival in an individually-marked population of the Endangered purple-crowned fairy-wren (Malurus coronatus coronatus). Leveraging a high-quality 10-year dataset of nestling measurements, we control for pertinent factors influencing growth (e.g. food provisioned) and quantify short- and long-term survival with high accuracy.
Higher ambient temperatures in the week after hatching reduced nestling body condit..., , # High temperatures and poor habitat reduce nestling condition and survival in a tropical songbird

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.pnvx0k72q](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pnvx0k72q)

## Description of the data and file structure

This data was collected as part of a long-term study of the purple-crowned fairy-wren population at the Australian Wildlife Conservancy's Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Australia.

### Files and variables

#### File: La_Porte_et_al._2026__JoAppEcol.csv

**Description:** 

##### Variables

* bird_id: individual identifier for each nestling
* mom_id: genetic and social mother of the nestling
* dad_id: genetic father of the nestling
* nest_id: unique identifier of the nest in which the nestling hatched and was reared
* year: Austral year (Jul st - Jun 30th) of first egg in the nestlings' nest
* season: Wet season = Nov-Apr, Dry season = May-Oct
* time_banded: Time of day the nestling was banded, weighed, and tarsus measured
* mass: Mass of the nestling in gr...,