Conspecific brood parasitism and nest predation in moorhens

Conspecific brood parasitism was investigated in three species of moorhens on three different continents: common moorhens in the United Kingdom, lesser moorhens in Namibia, and American moorhens in Panama. These are nest data used to summarize population-level rates of conspecific brood parasitism and nest predation. The data reported here were collected using similar field methods, and include nest dates, clutch sizes (number of host eggs), number of parasitic eggs, and nest fates., Common moorhens (United Kingdom, 1991-1993)
Data were collected over three field seasons at Peakirk Waterfowl Gardens in Cambridgeshire. Nests were monitored daily, and new eggs were uniquely marked with indelible ink upon discovery. Parasitic eggs were identified through sequence anomalies (when 2 eggs appeared on one day or at least 2 days after the host finished laying. Egg dimensions, color and spot pattern maculation helped distinguishing eggs laid in the same nest on the same day. All complete clutches were photographed and methods for identifying parasitic eggs were verified using DNA fingerprinting. Fates and hatching success of nests were determined from daily nest checks.
Lesser moorhens (Namibia, 1997)
Data were collected in what is now Nyae Nyae Concession Area in Bushmanland, Namibia, about 12 miles south of Tsumkwe. The breeding season began after long-awaited rains filled the salt pans and initiated the brief growing season in these ephemeral wetlands. Lesser moorhens nes..., , # Conspecific brood parasitism and nest predation in moorhens

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zw3r228g8](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zw3r228g8)

Rates of conspecific brood parasitism and rates of nest loss were investigated in three species of moorhens on three different continents: common moorhens in the U.K., lesser moorhens in Namibia, and American moorhens in Panama. Comparable data from nests at each study site are provided including nest dates, site and nest identity, host clutch size, number of parasitic eggs, and eventual fates of each nest.

## Description of the data and file structure

Five separate files are provided, each containing nest data from a single nesting season: three from study of common moorhens in the U.K. (years 1991-1993), one from the 1997 study of lesser moorhens in ephemeral wetlands in Namibia, and one from the 1999 study of American moorhens in Panama. In the U.K. study, an unplanned, natural experiment occurred causing nest predation by rats to increa...