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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 107(1)

Nesting success and apparent nest-adornment in Diamond Firetails (Stagonopleura guttata)

Angela McGuire A and Sonia Kleindorfer A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA 5042, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: sonia.kleindorfer@flinders.edu.au

Emu 107(1) 44-51 https://doi.org/10.1071/MU06031
Submitted: 27 June 2006  Accepted: 1 February 2007   Published: 15 March 2007

Abstract

The nesting biology of Australia’s endemic Diamond Firetail (Stagonopleura guttata) is poorly known. However, Diamond Firetails are known to weave flowers into the entrance of their nests sometimes, although the function of this behaviour is not known. This study used field and aviary data to address the following questions: (1) What proportion of nests in the wild have flowers woven into the nest-entrance? (2) Are nests with flowers more successful than nests without flowers? (3) Does the vegetation of the nest-site predict nesting outcome? (4) How often do wild birds reuse nests across years for breeding? (5) Do birds have a preference for stem-length or presence of flowers when selecting nesting material in aviaries? The field data showed that 70% of nests had flowers woven into the entrances, but with significant annual variation in the number of flowers at nest-entrances, with > 30 flowers per nest in 2004 and < 10 flowers per nest in 2005. Most (96%) natural nests were depredated (100% in 2004, and 91% in 2005), and we could not examine the role of vegetation of the nest-site in determining predation outcome. Using artificial nests with and without flowers we found no effect of the presence or absence of flowers on predation outcome, which suggests that flowers do not increase the conspicuousness of the nest for predators. However, there was an effect of nest concealment. Nests more exposed on the sides and below were depredated more than nests with greater concealment. Aviary data showed Diamond Firetails had a clear preference for longer stems over shorter stems for nest-building, irrespective of the presence of flowers. We conclude that the flowers observed at nests were a by-product of the preference for stem-length for nest-building. This finding helps to explain the inconsistency among anecdotal studies reporting the presence of flowers at nests of Diamond Firetails across Australia.


Acknowledgements

This study was funded by ARC Linkage Grant LP0668941 to SK. We also thank the South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage (DEH), Birds for Biodiversity program, and the Conservation Council of South Australia for financial support awarded to SK. We thank the Royal Zoological Society of South Australia and the Adelaide Zoo for financial support to AM. We extend sincere thanks to Greg Johnston, Richard Wilson and John Williams for use of the aviaries and for stimulating discussion. We thank Doug Hill, President of the Finch Society of Australia, for sharing personal observations on Diamond Firetail nesting behaviour; and Birds Australia and John Hatch for access to the Diamond Firetail draft section from the Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds (HANZAB). Special thanks to Sarah Lambert for extensive help with nest monitoring in 2004, and to David Paton for valuable discussion about the breeding biology of birds in South Australia.


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