Temperature and rainfall shape the breeding ecology of Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica in an arid region
Data files
Dec 16, 2025 version files 19.72 KB
-
DataBSAlgeria.csv
11.03 KB
-
README.md
8.69 KB
Abstract
Local weather conditions play a critical role in shaping avian reproduction, yet our understanding of these patterns in arid environments, where climate change is expected to increase drought frequency, is limited. This study investigated the effects of temperature, rainfall, and wind speed on the breeding ecology of Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) in an arid region of Algeria during 2023 and 2024. Using generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs), we assessed these effects for several life-history traits and breeding parameters including clutch size, incubation duration, hatching success, nestling period duration, and reproductive success. Our results indicate that clutch size decreased seasonally, while incubation duration increased with rainfall and was shorter for second clutches. Hatching success correlated positively with the amount of precipitation and was higher in second clutches. Nestling period duration increased both seasonally and with prolonged incubation. Reproductive success benefited from greater rainfall but declined as the season progressed and when incubation was extended. Additionally, higher temperatures reduced renesting probability, suggesting that heat may limit Barn Swallows’ reproductive efforts. Our results highlight the importance of rainfall in shaping reproductive success and reveal the negative impact of high temperatures on the breeding performance of Barn Swallows in this region. In a context of climate change and increasing drought frequency, these findings underscore the challenges that Barn Swallow populations might face in arid environments in the near future.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.31zcrjf1w
Description of the data and file structure
This dataset contains breeding data for the Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) collected from three administrative communes (M’sila, Ouled Madi, and Sidi Aissa) in Algeria during the 2023 and 2024 breeding seasons. It includes detailed records on nesting phenology, environmental conditions, and reproductive outcomes across both rural and urban habitats. Nests were located through systematic searches across villages and farmland before the beginning of the breeding period. Daily weather data (minimum, maximum and mean temperature, precipitation, and wind speed) were obtained from the nearest weather station to the study area, M’sila station (station number 604670), via the website TuTiempo.net (https://fr.tutiempo.net/m-sila.html).
Files and variables
File: DataBSAlgeria.csv
Description: Main and only dataset containing all the study variables employed in our research.
Variables
| Column Name | Description | Unit/Format |
|---|---|---|
| ID | Unique identifier for each nest record | Integer |
| LayingDate | Date when the first egg was laid | dd/mm/yyyy |
| NDaysApril | Number of days after April 1st when laying occurred | Days |
| HatchingDate | Date when first egg hatched | dd/mm/yyyy (blank if not hatched) |
| FledglingDate | Date when fledglings left the nest | dd/mm/yyyy (blank if not fledged) |
| TMinL, TMaxL, TMeanL | Min, max, and mean temperatures during laying period | °C |
| PrecL | Precipitation during laying period | mm |
| WindL | Wind speed during laying period | km/h |
| DurationL | Duration of laying period | Days |
| TMinI, TMaxI, TMeanI | Min, max, and mean temperatures during incubation | °C (blank if abandoned before hatching) |
| PrecI | Precipitation during incubation | mm (blank if abandoned before hatching) |
| WindI | Wind speed during incubation | km/h (blank if abandoned before hatching) |
| DurationI | Duration of incubation period | Days (blank if abandoned before hatching) |
| TMinN, TMaxN, TMeanN | Min, max, and mean temperatures during nestling period | °C (blanks are due to lack of precise data for these days or if the nests were abandoned) |
| PrecN | Precipitation during nestling period | mm (blanks are due to lack of precise data for these days or if the nests were abandoned) |
| WindN | Wind speed during nestling period | km/h (blanks are due to lack of precise data for these days or if the nests were abandoned) |
| DurationN | Duration of nestling period | Days (blanks are due to lack of precise data for these days or if the nests were abandoned) |
| TMinT, TMaxT, TMeanT | Min, max, and mean temperatures during total breeding period | °C (blank if the nests were abandoned at any stage) |
| PrecT | Precipitation during total breeding period | mm (blank if the nests were abandoned at any stage) |
| WindT | Wind speed during total breeding period | km/h (blank if the nests were abandoned at any stage) |
| DurationT | Total breeding duration (incubation + nestling) | Days (blank if the nests were abandoned at any stage) |
| Site | Study site location | Ouled Madi, M'sila, Sidi Aissa |
| Habitat type | Habitat classification | Rural, Urban |
| Year | Year of data collection | 2023, 2024 |
| IncDur | Incubation duration | Days (blank if abandoned before hatching) |
| NestDur | Nestling duration (from hatching to fledging) | Days (blank if abandoned during nesting stage) |
| ClutchSize | Total number of eggs laid | Count |
| Nhatchlings | Number of eggs that hatched | Count |
| Nfledglings | Number of fledglings produced | Count |
| Brood | Brood identifier (first or second brood of the season) | 1 = First brood, 2 = Second brood |
| renesting | Indicates whether the nest was a renesting attempt | 1 = Yes, 0 = No, blank = unknown (blank if these were second broods) |
Code/software
All analyses were conducted in R v4.4.2 (R Core Team 2024). Data manipulation was performed with dplyr (Wickham et al., 2023). Generalized linear mixed models were fitted using glmmTMB (Brooks et al., 2017), and model diagnostics were implemented with DHARMa (Hartig, 2023) and performance (Lüdecke et al., 2023).
Brooks, M.E., Kristensen, K., van Benthem, K.J., Magnusson, A., Berg, C.W., Nielsen, A., et al., 2017. glmmTMB balances speed and flexibility among packages for zero-inflated generalized linear mixed modeling. R package version 1.1.7. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=glmmTMB
Hartig, F., 2023. DHARMa: Residual Diagnostics for Hierarchical (Multi-Level / Mixed) Regression Models. R package version 0.4.6. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=DHARMa
Lüdecke, D., Ben-Shachar, M., Patil, I., Waggoner, P., Makowski, D., 2023. performance: An R package for assessment, comparison and testing of statistical models. Journal of Open-Source Software 8(82), 7120. https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.07120
Wickham, H., Chang, W., Henry, L., 2023. dplyr: A Grammar of Data Manipulation. R package version 1.1.0.https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=dplyr
Access information
Other publicly accessible locations of the data:
- N/A
Data was derived from the following sources:
- N/A