PARENTAL NEST DEFENSE ON VIDEOTAPE: MORE REALITY THAN “MYTH

Most video nest-monitors are poorly suited to quantify the full range of behaviors that parent birds use to defend their nests, nevertheless, they can provide glimpses of behaviors that are rarely observed directly, and may provide estimates of the frequency of nest defense. Pietz and Granfors describe how their videotaped data on grassland passerines suggest that nest defense can be quite common. Comparing data among video studies might help elucidate the factors that contribute to variability in the occurrence and detection of parental nest defense.