DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10647164
title: Incubation period trait in Aves

description: 1) Motivation for trait compilation of incubation time of different Aves orders

The purpose of this database collection is to help provide a comprehensive list of varying incubation periods across a range of orders within the Aves lineage. The main goal is to analyze and compare variations observed in incubation periods between these taxonomic groups. Better understanding of these differences offers insight into bird reproduction strategies and the variety of adaptations between groups.

2) Protocol used for Literature search

This dataset was produced with the use of a systematic literature search by Nikol Ilieva within the period of 29/01/2024- 10/02/2024. Relevant peer reviewed literature articles were found using keywords such as "incubation" , "incubation period", "breeding biology" and "species name" on the search engine Google scholar. Data was compiled from papers which met this criteria and contained the relevant information about incubation periods, definitions of start of incubation period, incubation parental care information and clutch size of studies which directly conducted their own data collection. Review articles were not included to help ensure original, firsthand data was used for the dataset compilation.

3) Metadata compiled in document

- Species name : Species scientific name as stated in the literature.- Accepted species name : Accepted scientific name according to the IUCN Red List Authority.- Order : Taxonomic order of the bird species.- Latitude: Geographic latitude coordinates of research site. - Longitude : Geographic longitude coordinates of research site.- Exact Location : Whether the exact study site location was mentioned (Y) or not (N).- Year of study: The year or range of years that the data was collected and the study. conducted.- Bred environment: What environment the birds in the study were bred in (e.g, Wild, Captivity).- Nest location: Location of the nest (e.g, Natural nest, Nest box, Both).- Incubation start: At what stage of the egg laying process incubation of the species begins (e.g, Penultimate, First lay, Last lay, Host dependent, Second lay). - Incubation time: Duration of the incubation period, this was defined from the beginning of incubation behaviours of the clutch until the first egg hatch. Results might show ± SE (Standard Error) of average calculations.- Incubation measured: What units incubation period was measured in (e.g, Days).- Clutch size: Number of eggs in a clutch. Results might show ± SE (Standard Error) for average calculations.- Clutch measured: How clutch size was measured. This includes Average calculations or Exact clutch size used for incubation period data collection. In the presence of an asterisk (*) this indicates that there was only one nest studied.- Temperature conditions: Temperature conditions used in study (e.g, Natural temperature, Controlled).- Nest visitation: Frequency of nest visit during the research within the incubation period ( e.g, Daily, Continuous, Interval, Weekly). Here is a list of acronyms used:   - ND (No Data) : No information on nest visitation frequency was stated   - PIL (Post Initial Lay).   - V (Varied interval)   - PN (Post Nest Discovery).   - PFL (Post Fifth Lay).- Methods: Approach used for nest observation (e.g, Visitation, Camera (video), Distant observation (by the use of binoculars), Camera (photos)).- Parental Care: Type of parental care observed during incubation only (incubation patterns) (e.g, Biparental, Female-only, Brood parasitism).- Reference: Citation of the original study used. 

FOR EACH CATEGORY : - For categories marked with "ND", this indicates that specific data was not found mentioned within the study.