We used temperature loggers in monitoring breeding success. Placed in the nest, they made it possible to determine very precisely – down to the hour – when the nest was abandoned by the bird after the loss of the brood, usually as a result of ransacking by predators.
The time of nest abandonment in the absence of traces pointing to a specific group of species responsible for the loss of the brood also allowed us to determine who ransacked the nest: it was assumed that mammals destroy the nest at night and birds during the day.
The graph shows how the temperature in the nest changes before the lapwing starts nesting, during nesting and after the nest is abandoned.
Interestingly, a significant percentage of birds eject loggers from the nest. Of the 113 devices installed, 15 have been removed.
The monitoring was performed and the results compiled by the Dubelt Naturalist Society
Wesja Polska