Data for: Experimental variation of perceived predation risk does not influence coordination of parental care in the long-tailed tit

To maximise fitness, parents should optimise their investment in each breeding attempt. When there are multiple carers, the fitness of each individual may also depend on the relative timing of their investment, with coordination of care hypothesised to maximise its efficiency and reduce predation risk. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that carers coordinate provisioning as an antipredator measure that reduces the time that a brood’s location is advertised to predators (‘predation hypothesis’). We presented predatory and non-predatory model birds to provisioning long-tailed tit Aegithalos caudatus parents and helpers, predicting that coordination would increase, and carer activity near the nest would decrease following predator presentation, relative to controls. First, carers reduced provisioning rates and took longer to resume provisioning following the predator presentation. Second, contrary to predictions, we found no significant change in any metric of coordination f..., Study system and general field protocol
Data were collected during the breeding seasons (March–June) of 2021 and 2022 from a population of long-tailed tits in a ~3km2 field site in the Rivelin Valley, Sheffield, UK (53°23′N, 1°34′W). Nests were located by following adult birds during nest building, and once located, were monitored at 1–3 day intervals to record lay dates and the start of incubation, with daily checks to record hatch date within 24 h. Brood size was recorded on day 11 (d11) after hatching (d0) when chicks were ringed. Long-tailed tits typically build their nests in low vegetation (<3 m) or tree forks (>3 m). Our experimental protocol required model presentation within 2 m of the nest, so we conducted experiments only on nests within reach of an observer (<3 m) (N = 22). All birds in our study were individually identifiable after being ringed with a British Trust for Ornithology ring and a unique combination of two colour rings either as nestlings in our field si..., Microsoft Excel
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