Abstract
Nests are essential for breeding in many birds, and differ widely in morphology across species. Only a few bird species build compound nests, with different nest chambers as part of a continuous structure. Knowing the ecological and social conditions leading to compound nest construction in species where this behaviour is not the norm can improve our understanding of their functions and evolution. We studied how limited space availability affected nest building behaviour in a population of wild-caught common waxbills (Estrilda astrild), across 4 years, in a mesocosm with abundant vegetation (e.g. grass, brambles, bushes). In addition to their typical isolated domed nests, built mostly on or near ground level, we found that 141 out of a total of 423 nest chambers were in compound structures, each comprising 2 to 11 nest chambers, and that most compound nests were above the ground on bushes. Compound nests were never reported for common waxbills in nature, and we thus conclude that compound nest construction is a plastic response caused by the high density of this population relative to available nesting sites in the mesocosm. Since the morphology of domed nests resembles that of nest chambers in compound structures, domed nests may be an exaptation for high-density nesting and may facilitate the evolution of more specialised compound nest construction.
Significance statement
Avian nests differ across species with, for example, some species building cup-shaped nests and others domed nests with an entrance. A small number of bird species typically build compound nests with multiple entrances connected to different domed chambers. Compound nests can be associated with complex social structures, but it is little understood what may be the initial steps in the evolutionary origin of this behaviour. We show that the common waxbill, a species described as building independent domed nests in nature, can build compound nests under reduced availability of suitable nesting space, whose chambers are used by either the same pair or different pairs. Such plastic building of compound nests, in response to environmental constraints, could then facilitate the evolution of more specialised compound nests.
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We thank the Editor and two anonymous reviewers for comments that improved the manuscript.
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This work was supported by grants PTDC/BIA-EVF/4852/2014 and PTDC/BIAECO/32210/2017 to GCC, by contract DL57/2016/CP1440/CT0011 to GCC and by scholarships SFRH/BD/129002/2017 to ACRG and SFRH/BD/148392/2019 to PB from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia with funds from Fundo Social Europeu.
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PB, GCC and ACRG conceived the study; PB, ACRG, CIM, SG and PAS collected the data; PB processed the data and wrote the manuscript with contributions from all the authors.
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Common waxbills were captured under the permits 690/2016/CAPT, 57/2017/CAPT, 127/2019/CAPT and 112/2020/CAPT from Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas (ICNF). All applicable national and institutional guidelines for the use of animals were followed, and no experimental procedures were conducted for this study.
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Beltrão, P., Marques, C.I., Guerra, S. et al. Domed nests as an exaptation for compound nest construction: the case of the common waxbill. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 76, 155 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-022-03264-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-022-03264-9