Scientific publications

Thermal insulation is one of the most significant quality of bird nests equally with hygroscopicity and mechanical strength of nest materials. Within the aim to estimate and to compare thermal insulation efficiency in nests of passerine birds of different ecological groups we analyzed the basic measurements of nests, compositions of nest materials, and reproductive success. These parameters had been studied for 11 breeding seasons (2003 – 2014) under the conditions of North-West Russia. On the example of Sylvia and Phylloscopus warblers we defined connections between nest shapes and plant-substrates, identified all natural and artificial nest materials. Preliminary results had heightened the interest in the mechanisms of thermal insulation of nests and now we are planning the series of experiments in field. In order to check the working hypotheses, we are going to get thermal pictures of nests in field conditions at different stages of the reproductive season of 2015 with a thermographic camera (NETD down to 50 mK), analyze these pictures and relate these data to the nest quality and reproductive success of controlled pairs. Details of the research and results will be discussed in our presentation. This work is supported by the Russian Federation President Grant for young scientists MK-3599.2015.4.