Assessing Nest Attentiveness of Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) via Video Cameras and Temperature Loggers

While nest attentiveness plays a critical role in the reproductive success of avian species, little is known regarding the nest attentiveness patterns of many species during incubation. However, improvements in both video monitoring and temperature logging devices present an opportunity to improve our understanding of this aspect of avian behavior. To evaluate the ability of these technologies to document fine scale behaviors during incubation we monitored 13 nests across two Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) breeding colonies with a paired video camera - temperature logger approach, while monitoring 63 additional nests with temperature loggers alone. We also monitored nests and recorded hatching success, allowing us to asses the impacts of these devices.