Kent Island Tree Swallow database variables and metadata

The data in the Tree Swallow database were gathered as part of a long-term population biology study at the Bowdoin Scientific Station on Kent Island, New Brunswick. The study was begun in 1986 by Nat Wheelwright with the assistance of numerous undergraduate field assistants. All breeding birds were banded and all nests were found in the North and South Field study sites in every year of the study. For further information about data collection and methods, see List of publications based on research on Tree Swallows on Kent Island.

NOTE:

Any hatch/fledge/fail date of “00/00/00” and any Julian hatch/fledge/fail date of “0” indicate that the nest did not hatch/fledge/fail.

Any female age or male age of “0” indicates a missing value (e.g., unknown age). (Note that ages of “0” in the individual or morphology files are actual values.)

NEST File:

Nest Key

Designation of nest box (forbreeding birds). The prefix represents the year, the letter-number combination the 50x50 m quadrat, and the final number (after the decimal point) the specific box within that quadra. So, 94-M19.2 represents a nest laid in box number 2 in quadrat M19 in 1994. Note that nests found after 2000 use “100-” to indicate 2000, “101-”to indicate 2001, etc.

Eggs Laid

Number of eggs laid (clutch size)

Female ID

Female who laid eggs in the nest

Male ID

Social mate of femalewho laid eggs in the nest

Female Color

Band combination of female who laid eggs in the nest (see rules under Adult Color)

Male Color

Band combination of social mate of femalewho laid eggs in the nest (see rules under Adult Color)

Hatch Date

Date first eggs hatched

Julian Hatch Date

Julian date first eggs hatched

Eggs Hatched

Number of eggs hatched

Fledglings

Number of nestlings that survived to 7 days of age

Study Site

S= South Field; N= North Field; WB= West Beach; O= other

Fate

Fate of nest (F= fledged at least 1; PE= preyed on at the egg stage; PN= preyed on at the nestling stage;AE= abandoned at the egg stage; AN= abandoned at the nestling stage)

Fail Date

Date nest failed (except for nests with fate of “F”)

J Fail Date

Julian date nest failed

Female Age

In years

Male Age

In years

NoSameMatePrevious

Number of previous nests with the same social mate