A method to estimate the volume of gull nests

Abstract

Measuring nest size is an important aspect of studying the breeding biology of birds. Although some simple equations for estimating the volume of passerine nests are available, no methods to estimate nest size for gulls have been described. This paper offers an equation for calculating the volume of gull nests, based on the truncated cone. It requires only four measurements of the nest: outer diameter, inner diameter, height, and cup depth. We also present a way of estimating the volume of nest material.