3D scanning as a powerful tool for the analysis of bird nests

Abstract

The analysis of bird nest parameters is often constrained by the traditional linear measurements. The shape of every nest is unique, and conventional measurements cannot describe all spatial characteristic of these three-dimensional structures. In this study, we used 3D scanning to obtain three-dimensional images of nests and estimate their parameters and compared the results with the values obtained by the linear measurement-based approach. The 3D scanning-based method involves minimal nest deformation, ensures determination of its volume and shape with higher precision than traditional measurements and, finally, can be applied to different types of nests, including asymmetrical ones.

Keywords

Bird nests nest dimensions 3D scanning 3D modelling nest volume

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Hansell

MH.

Bird nests and construction behaviour. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, p.294.

Lambrechts

Adriaensen

Ardia

, et al. The design of artificial nestboxes for the study of secondary hole-nesting birds: a review of methodological inconsistencies and potential biases. Acta Ornithologica 2010; 45(1): 1–26.

Mainwaring

Hartley

Lambrechts

, et al. The design and function of birds’ nests. Ecol Evol 2014; 4(20): 3909–3928.

Slagsvold

Clutch size, nest size, and hatching asynchrony in birds: experiments with the Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris). Ecology 1982; 63(5): 1389–1399.

Slagsvold

On the evolution of clutch size and nest size in passerine birds. Oecologia 1989; 79(3): 300–305.

Møller

AP.

Rapid change in nest size of a bird related to change in a secondary sexual character. Behav Ecol 2006; 17(1): 108–116.

Heenan

Seymour

RS.

Structural support, not insulation, is the primary driver for avian cup-shaped nest design. Proc Biol Sci 2011; 278(1720): 2924–2929.

Deeming

Reynolds

SJ.

Nests, eggs, and incubation: new ideas about avian reproduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015, p. 296.

Heenan

Goodman

White

CR.

The influence of climate on avian nest construction across large geographical gradients. Global Ecol Biogeogr 2015; 24(11): 1203–1211.

10.

Møller

AP.

Clutch size in relation to nest size in the swallow Hirundo rustica. Ibis 1982; 124(3): 339–343.

11.

Bates

Maechler

Bolker

Walker

lme4: mixed-effects modeling with R. Springer. (2010). Available at: http://lme4.r-forge.r-project.org/lMMwR/lrgprt.pdf.

12.

Windsor

Fegely

Ardia

DR.

The effects of nest size and insulation on thermal properties of tree swallow nests. J Avian Biol 2013; 44(4): 305–310.

13.

Møller

AP.

Nest predation selects for small nest size in the blackbird. Oikos 1990; 57(2): 237–240.

14.

Weidinger

Relative effects of nest size and nest site on the risk of predation in open nesting passerines. J Avian Biol 2004; 35(6): 515–523.

15.

Giachetti

Lovato

Radial symmetry detection and shape characterization with the multiscale area projection transform. Comput Graph Forum 2012; 31(5): 1669–1678.

16.

Simonov

Matantseva

The study of thermal insulation in bird nests: justification of used parameters. Sci Almanac 2015; 9(11): 1051–1055.

17.

Simonov

Matantseva

Preliminary results of the comparative analysis of the mass, size and thermal insulation of Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) nests in the center and north of the breeding range. Principy ekologii 2016; 5(5): 46–55 [In Russian with English summary].

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.15 MB