The main file is composed of our dataset on nest predation and failure in Australian songbirds (order Passeriformes). The data was collected by a comprehensive literature search (the search procedure is described in the associated article) and spans mainly years 1960-2008. It is a plain text file (tab delimited), where each column has a header that is explained here: Family Taxonomic family Genus Taxonomic genus GenusSpecies Genus and species name of the species N Sample size - number of studied nests Failure Percentage of nests that failed from whatever reason Predation Percentage of depredated nests DPR Daily predation rate calculated according to Ricklefs (1969), day(-1) /other estimators of DPR can be calculated based on the data provided in this dataset, see the associated article for details/ DFR Daily failure rate calculated according to Ricklefs (1969), day(-1) /other estimators of DFR can be calculated based on the data provided in this dataset, see the associated article for details/ No_Pred Number of depredated nests No_Failed Number of failed nests Midpoint_of_study Midpoint of the interval in years when the study was conducted Study_length Length of the study, years Latitude Geographical latitude, degrees south Longitude Geographical longitude, degrees east Nest_height Average nest height of the species, meters Nest_type Nest type categorized as open vs. domed (which includes cavity nests) Body_mass Adult body mass of the species, grams Site Arbitrary code of the study locality Social_organization Typical social organization of the species Occupied_squares Number of squares occupied (out of 812) in Barrett et al. (2003) Region Broad region where the study belongs Source Literature source Barrett, G., Silcocks, A., Barry, S., Cunningham, R. and Poulter, R. 2003. The new atlas of Australian birds. – Birds Australia, Hawthorn East. Ricklefs, R.E. 1969. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 9:1-48