2026-10-14T10:07:26Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/32151628 2026-09-23T01:57:16Z category_24214 category_24400 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

<b>Nest box entrance matters: nest-site competition in sympatric breeding secondary cavity-nesting birds</b> Jiangping Yu (23830609) Zhengqi Shi (23830598) Ziqi Wang (23830595) Jiyuan Yao (23830603) Chao Shen (23830606) Wei Liang (16539567) guixia wan (23828524) Behavioural ecology Animal behaviour secondary cavity-nesting birds sympatric distribution nestbox selection niche differentiation nest defense behavior <p dir="ltr">Nest-site selection is a critical step in the reproductive process of birds. Limited nest resources lead to intense interspecific competition, which directly affects reproductive outcomes. Currently, there is scant research on how species with a high degree of overlap in breeding time and space achieve sympatric breeding through finer differentiation in nest-site characteristics. In this study, two secondary cavity-nesting birds, the Daurian redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus) and Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus), were selected as study species. By installing nest boxes with different entrance dimensions (3 cm, 5 cm, 7 cm, and 10 cm × 16 cm) in the study area, we investigated how the two species' use of entrance sizes may contribute to reducing potential nest site competition and explored their defense behaviors toward nest-site competitors. The results revealed that both Daurian redstarts and Eurasian tree sparrows avoided selecting nest boxes with a 10-cm entrance. However, the two species showed different preferences in entrance selection. Eurasian tree sparrows preferentially bred in nest boxes with a 3-cm entrance, whereas Daurian redstarts mainly selected nest boxes with 5-cm or 7-cm entrances. The less competitive Daurian redstarts exhibited more intense defense behaviors than the more competitive Eurasian tree sparrows. This study provides key empirical evidence that nest-site selection is used to cope with interspecific competition between sympatrically distributed secondary cavity-nesting birds. The findings also contribute to a deeper understanding of adaptive behavioral strategies in birds under resource competition and offer a scientific basis for the ecological management of artificial nest boxes.</p> 2026-09-23T01:57:16Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.32151628.v3 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Nestbox_entrance_matters_nest-site_competition_in_sympatric_breeding_secondary_cavity-nesting_birds/32151628 CC BY 4.0