https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gmsbcc2wm

This dataset contains published estimates of hatching failure (due to infertility or embryo death) in bird eggs, with red list category , estimates of global population size, number of clutches from which the hatching failure rates are based upon, study year and latitude of the study site(s).

To find relevant data we used Google Scholar and ISI Web of Science. Search terms included “hatching failure”, “hatching success”, “hatchability”, “birds”, and “breeding ecology”. Other major data sources were Cramp et al. (1977-1994), Heber and Briskie (2010), Koenig (1982), Morrow et al. (2002), and Spottiswoode and Møller (2004). We also acquired data on hatching failure rates from nest records of birds from Norway stored at the University Museum of Bergen.

The dataset was used to analyze time trends in avian hatching failure rates and to investigate any potential effects of conservation status on temporal relationships.  

Description of the data and file structure

scientific_name follow the IOC World Bird List taxonomy (Gill et al. 2022).

IUCN_redlist categories follow the IUCN Global Red List (2023). LC: Least Concern, NT: Near Threatened, VU: Vulnerable, EN: Endangered, CR: Critically Endangered

population_size_ind refers to estimates of global population size (number of mature individuals) as given by Callaghan et al. (2021)

hatching_failure rates are defined as “the proportion of eggs present at the end of the incubation period that fail to hatch relative to all eggs present at the end of the incubation period”, as recommended by Marshall et al. (2023). Thus, estimates exclude hatching failure reported as caused by factors like depredation, nest abandonment, accidental physical damage, disturbance, or extreme weather.

n_clutches is the number of clutches from which the hatching failure rate estimates are based upon (*: number of clutches is calculated from the number of eggs included in the study and the average clutch size of the study/species)

study_year is the year the hatching failure rate estimate was sampled. If studies were conducted over several years, we used median study year.

latitude refers to the latitude of the study site (absolute values, i.e., distance from the Equator). When data were reported from several sites in a study, we used the mean latitude. When data were reported from a larger region, we used an approximate geographical midpoint for that region.

references are those from which the hatching failure rate estimates were collected. See reference list for complete references.

Missing data code : NA

References

Callaghan, C. T., S. Nakagawa, and W. K. Cornwell (2021). Global abundance estimates for 9,700 bird species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118:e2023170118.

Cramp, S., D. Brooks, and C. Perrins. 1977-1994. Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa: The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Gill, F., D. Donsker, and P. Rasmussen (2022). IOC World Bird List. Retrieved from: worldbirdnames.org (November 2022).

Heber, S., and J. V. Briskie (2010). Population bottlenecks and increased hatching failure in endangered birds. Conservation Biology 24:1674-1678.

IUCN 2023. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Vol. Version 2022-2. Retrieved from: https://www.iucnredlist.org (January 2023).

Koenig, W. D. (1982). Ecological and social factors affecting hatchability of eggs. The Auk 99:526-536.

Marshall, A. F., F. Balloux, N. Hemmings, and P. Brekke (2023). Systematic review of avian hatching failure and implications for conservation. Biological Reviews 98:807-832.

Morrow, E. H., G. Arnqvist, and T. E. Pitcher (2002). The evolution of infertility: does hatching rate in birds coevolve with female polyandry? Journal of Evolutionary Biology 15:702-709.

Spottiswoode, C., and A. P. Møller (2004). Genetic similarity and hatching success in birds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 271:267-272.