捕食是鸟类筑巢失败的最常见原因。虽然总体上对巢穴捕食进行了相对较好的研究,我们的知识在全球和分类群分布不均,with,例如,关于亚热带岸鸟繁殖的信息有限。重要的是,我们对一天内捕食的时间知之甚少。这里,我们跟随444个红色wattledlapwing(Vanellusindicus)的巢,地面筑巢的水鸟,总共7828天来估计巢穴捕食率,并连续监测其中230个巢穴,为期2779天,以揭示在亚热带沙漠中捕食时间在一天和季节中如何变化。我们发现312个巢(70%)孵化,76个巢(17%)被提前,23(5%)因其他原因失败,33(7%)的命运未知。每日捕食率为0.95%(95%CrI:0.76%-1.19%),对于30天长的潜伏期,这意味着〜25%(20%-30%)的巢穴被提前。与大多数其他鸟类相比,这种捕食率很低。捕食事件(N=25)在白天和晚上均匀分布,日出前后捕食倾向增加,并且在整个季节中均匀分布,尽管夜间捕食在本季后期更为常见,也许是因为捕食者在白天减少活动以避免极端高温。的确,午间温度超过45℃时,巢从未过时。居民捕食者的diel活动模式是否在整个繁殖季节发生了不可否认的变化,以及所描述的捕食模式是否适用于其他种群,物种,和地理区域等待未来的调查。
Predation is the most common cause of nest failure in birds. While nest predation is relatively well studied in general, our knowledge is unevenly distributed across the globe and taxa, with, for example, limited information on shorebirds breeding in subtropics. Importantly, we know fairly little about the timing of predation within a day. Here, we followed 444 nests of the red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus), a ground-nesting shorebird, for a sum of 7,828 days to estimate a nest predation rate, and continuously monitored 230 of these nests for a sum of 2,779 days to reveal how the timing of predation changes over the day and season in a subtropical desert. We found that 312 nests (70%) hatched, 76 nests (17%) were predated, 23 (5%) failed for other reasons, and 33 (7%) had an unknown fate. Daily predation rate was 0.95% (95%CrI: 0.76% - 1.19%), which for a 30-day long incubation period translates into ~25% (20% - 30%) chance of nest being predated. Such a predation rate is low compared to most other avian species. Predation events (N = 25) were evenly distributed across day and night, with a tendency for increased predation around sunrise, and evenly distributed also across the season, although night predation was more common later in the season, perhaps because predators reduce their activity during daylight to avoid extreme heat. Indeed, nests were never predated when midday ground temperatures exceeded 45℃. Whether the diel activity pattern of resident predators undeniably changes across the breeding season and whether the described predation patterns hold for other populations, species, and geographical regions await future investigations.