Differential use of nest materials and niche space among avian species within a single ecological community

Differential use of resources among bird species has been examined extensively in diet and nesting sites, but few studies have assessed this regarding avian nest materials. We assessed the structure and composition of nests in a group of coexisting passerine shrubland birds at a site in Massachusetts, USA. We found, measured, collected, and dissected nests, and then weighed nest materials in morphological groups (e.g., bark, twigs, feathers), to determine if our seven focal species were using different nest materials. Among species, we compared proportional material masses in complete nests, and also separately in the exterior, structural part of the nest and the interior, cup lining. We found that the proportional masses of all 17 material types that we examined in nests differed among species. The compositions of nests among all seven bird species were distinct in multivariate ordination space and only a few pairs of species had substantial niche overlap. Proportional masses of materi..., Please see the publication for methods on how the dataset was collected and processed., , # Data from: Differential Use of Nest Materials and Niche Space among Avian Species within a Single Ecological Community

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1jwstqk41](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1jwstqk41)

Dataset contents include data on nest materials, nest dimensions, and grasses and sedges identified to genus, in each nest examined in the study.

## Description of the data and file structure

**Nest Materials:**

Species: Species of birds that built nests. Four-letter abbreviations are used instead of full species names. AMRO is American robin, CHSP is chipping sparrow, CSWA is chestnut-sided warbler, EATO is Eastern towhee, FISP is field sparrow, and GRCA is gray catbird.

Name: Unique name given to each nest.

SumMaterials: Sum of ExtMaterialsTotal and IntMaterialsTotal.

Msrd.Exterior.Nest.Total.Weight: Measured weight in grams of exterior portion of nest once separated from interior.

ExtGrass: Weight in grams of grass and sedge in exterior of nest.

ExtFineStems: Weight in gram...