The influence of temperature, humidity and wind on the drinking behaviour of the Australian zebra finch

The Australian zebra finch is an arid-adapted passerine with high hygric demands, that is projected to be at risk from increasing temperature and aridity throughout its distribution by the end of the century. We examine here how individual zebra finches modify their drinking behaviour in response to the climatic conditions of ambient temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, wind speed, and day length over a two-month period during an Austral summer drought in arid central Australia. Visits to water by individual zebra finches increased with increasing ambient temperature and day length and decreased with increasing relative humidity, wind speed, and rainfall. These findings are the most comprehensive data for the drinking behaviour of individual wild birds globally and highlight the importance of regular drinking by individual finches to maintain water balance and thermoregulation. Our data highlight the importance of water availability for birds in the arid zone in a warming climate., Over 500 wild zebra finches were implanted with PIT-tags (Minichip; Micro Products Australia) in the Gap Hills area of Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station, far-west New South Wales (31°05′13.1″S 141°42′17.4″E) during the 50 months prior to December 2017 (Brandl et al. 2019; Funghi et al. 2019). From late November 2017 until after the conclusion of this study the only free water available within 4km of the centre of the study site was in two watering troughs located ~1km apart. The troughs were protected from large animals by a mesh fence and access to the water for small birds was restricted to an 11 cm diameter opening surrounded by the antenna of a custom-made battery-powered PITtag reader (RFIDRW-E-232; Priority 1 Design, Melbourne, Australia), that recorded the individual’s unique identification code, date and time. This study focuses on a total of 219 individually tagged adult zebra finches that were detected using the PITtag readers as they visited the water troughs between 16t..., , # The influence of temperature, humidity and wind on the drinking behaviour of the Australian zebra finch

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8gtht76zq](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8gtht76zq)

## Description of the data and file structure

The data was collected at two water troughs being monitored using a PIT tag reader to record the time and date on which tagged birds entered for a drink. 

### Files and variables

#### File: weather\_data.csv

**Description:** Each row is an hour of data on the respective date with the data coming from the BOM Automated Weather Station at Fowlers Gap 

##### Variables

* Precipitation since 9am
* Air temperature in degrees celsius
* Relative humidity
* wind speed
* date
* hour 

#### File: All\_Birds\_all\_days.csv

**Description:** each row gives the data on a visit to water by one individual

##### Variables

* Date is date of the observation
* ID is the identity number of the bird
* The trough that was visited (B or G)
* R-TIME is the five minute pe...,