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Data and code from: Nest building as a missing piece in biparental care

Sugasawa, Shoko1; Ramsay, Emma2; Olivares Gallego, Daniel2; Healy, Susan2

Published May 21, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8sf7m0d3f

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May 21, 2026 version files 5.21 MB

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Abstract

Many birds practice biparental care, providing useful systems to study its evolution. Although nest building has largely been ignored as biparental behaviour, as nest building has to happen before incubation and provisioning, it could enable parents to start evaluating their mate. While there are ample data on biparental incubation and provisioning in model species like zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), nest-building data largely concerns material collection and preference in males. Here we collected data on building by both female and male zebra finches to test whether building behaviour depends on the behaviour of their mate or on the material they used to build their nest. Males handled nest material more frequently when their female was in the nest, while females handled nest material longer when their male was away from the nest. But neither females nor males altered their building behaviour in response to changes in their partner handling nest material. Males that built with stiff material handled the material more frequently than those that built with flexible material, while females manipulated stiff and flexible materials similarly. An important next step is to determine whether these building interactions affect later stages of parental care in the wild or in other species.