scholarly journals Adjustment of egg laying by both hosts and intraspecific brood parasites in a beetle

Ethology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Richardson ◽  
Sarah Dobson ◽  
Lucy E. Ford ◽  
Per T. Smiseth
Keyword(s):  
Egg Laying ◽  
Brood Parasites

Habitat and space use of European cuckoo females during the egg laying period

Behaviour ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 141 (7) ◽  
pp. 881-898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Taborsky ◽  
Marcel Honza ◽  
Wolfgang Vogl ◽  
Yvonne Teuschl ◽  
Michael Taborsky
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Habitat Availability ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Territorial Behaviour ◽  
Cuculus Canorus ◽  
Suitable Host ◽  
Individual Female ◽  
Use Of Space ◽  
Brood Parasites

AbstractIn brood parasites, knowledge of spacing behaviour, habitat use and territoriality may reveal cues about how parasites find and use their hosts. To study the use of space and habitat of European cuckoos, Cuculus canorus, we radio-tagged 16 females during four consecutive reproductive seasons. We hypothesized that during the laying period cuckoo females should (1) use habitats selectively, and (2) attempt to monopolize potential egg laying areas to reduce competition for host nests. Our data are consistent with the first hypothesis: the use of pond edges compared to forest and transitional habitats was significantly greater than expected from the habitat availability in the total area and within individual female home ranges. All 26 directly observed egg layings and 27 nest visits without laying occurred at pond edges in nests of Acrocephalus spp. Females spent significantly more time at pond edges on egglaying days than on non-laying days. The second hypothesis was not supported: female home ranges overlapped similarly in all three major habitat categories of the potential egg laying areas, and only little aggression was observed between females. We discuss whether female cuckoos may lack territorial behaviour because they are not able to defend egg laying areas economically or because defence is not necessary due to sufficient availability of suitable host nests.

scholarly journals The ghosts of parasitism past: lingering frontline anti-brood parasite defences in a former host

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew H J Chaumont ◽  
Naomi E Langmore ◽  
Justin A Welbergen
Keyword(s):  
Brood Parasitism ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Arms Race ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Brood Parasite ◽  
Reed Warbler ◽  
Arms Races ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
Defensive Behaviors

Abstract Coevolutionary arms races between brood parasites and hosts provide tractable systems for understanding antagonistic coevolution in nature; however, little is known about the fate of frontline antiparasite defences when the host ‘wins’ the coevolutionary arms race. By recreating bygone species-interactions, using artificial parasitism experiments, lingering defensive behaviors that evolved in the context of parasitism can be understood and may even be used to identify the unknown agent of parasitism past. Here we present the first study of this type by evaluating lingering “frontline” nest defences that have evolved to prevent egg laying in a former brood parasite host. The Australian reed warbler Acrocephalus australis, is currently not parasitized but is known to exhibit fine-tuned egg discrimination—a defensive behavior indicative of a past brood parasite-host arms race and common in closely related parasitized species. Here, using 3 D-printed models of adult brood parasites, we examined whether the Australian reed warbler also exhibits frontline defences to adult brood parasites, and whether we could use these defences to identify the warbler’s “ghost of parasitism past”. Our findings provide evidence that the Australian reed warbler readily engages in frontline defences that are considered adaptive specifically in the context of brood parasitism. However, individuals were unable to discriminate between adults of different brood parasite species at their nest. Overall, our results demonstrate that despite a relaxation in selection, defences against brood parasitism can be maintained across multiple stages of the host’s nesting cycle, and further suggest that, in accordance with previous findings, that learning may be important for fine-tuning frontline defence.

scholarly journals Extreme offspring ornamentation in American coots is favored by selection within families, not benefits to conspecific brood parasites

2019 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 2056-2064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce E. Lyon ◽  
Daizaburo Shizuka
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Parental Choice ◽  
Food Distribution ◽  
Color Variation ◽  
Plumage Color ◽  
Conspecific Brood Parasitism ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
The Face

Offspring ornamentation typically occurs in taxa with parental care, suggesting that selection arising from social interactions between parents and offspring may underlie signal evolution. American coot babies are among the most ornamented offspring found in nature, sporting vividly orange-red natal plumage, a bright red beak, and other red parts around the face and pate. Previous plumage manipulation experiments showed that ornamented plumage is favored by strong parental choice for chicks with more extreme ornamentation but left unresolved the question as to why parents show the preference. Here we explore natural patterns of variation in coot chick plumage color, both within and between families, to understand the context of parental preference and to determine whose fitness interests are served by the ornamentation. Conspecific brood parasitism is common in coots and brood parasitic chicks could manipulate hosts by tapping into parental choice for ornamented chicks. However, counter to expectation, parasitic chicks were duller (less red) than nonparasitic chicks. This pattern is explained by color variation within families: Chick coloration increases with position in the egg-laying order, but parasitic eggs are usually the first eggs a female lays. Maternal effects influence chick coloration, but coot females do not use this mechanism to benefit the chicks they lay as parasites. However, within families, chick coloration predicts whether chicks become “favorites” when parents begin control over food distribution, implicating a role for the chick ornamentation in the parental life-history strategy, perhaps as a reliable signal of a chick’s size or age.

No support for relatedness and kin selection to explain high rates of conspecific brood parasitism in colonial Red-breasted Mergansers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Noel ◽  
Rodger Titman ◽  
Shawn R. Craik
Keyword(s):  
Kin Selection ◽  
Brood Parasitism ◽  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Conspecific Brood Parasitism ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
Fitness Benefits ◽  
Small Decline ◽  
Diurnal Period

Conspecific brood parasitism (CBP) has been observed in approximately half of all species of waterfowl, a philopatric group in which breeding females are frequently locally related. It has been suggested that kin selection can facilitate the evolution of CBP in waterfowl via fitness benefits for the host and parasite. One model demonstrates that discrimination of related and unrelated parasites by the host must be sufficient for kinship to promote CBP, provided that costs of brood parasitism to host fitness are sufficiently low. We parameterized the model using demographic data and behavioural observations from a population of colonial Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator (Linnaeus, 1758)) in which 47% of nests were parasitized by conspecifics. The costs of 1-3 foreign eggs to host hatching success were generally small (decline of 1.8% per additional egg). Nevertheless, model outputs revealed that brood parasites maximize their inclusive fitness by avoiding nests of relatives, primarily because of constraints on a host’s ability to detect parasites at the nest. Indeed, hosts spent <8% of the diurnal period at the nest during egg laying, a period when parasite activity is greatest. It is thus highly unlikely that relatedness and kin selection promote brood parasitism in this population.

scholarly journals Brood parasites lay eggs matching the appearance of host clutches

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1774) ◽  
pp. 20132665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Honza ◽  
Michal Šulc ◽  
Václav Jelínek ◽  
Milica Požgayová ◽  
Petr Procházka
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Characteristics ◽  
Host Population ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Laying Date ◽  
Randomization Tests ◽  
Chromatic Contrast ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
Interspecific Brood Parasitism ◽  
Coevolutionary Arms Race ◽  
Modelling Approach

Interspecific brood parasitism represents a prime example of the coevolutionary arms race where each party has evolved strategies in response to the other. Here, we investigated whether common cuckoos ( Cuculus canorus ) actively select nests within a host population to match the egg appearance of a particular host clutch. To achieve this goal, we quantified the degree of egg matching using the avian vision modelling approach. Randomization tests revealed that cuckoo eggs in naturally parasitized nests showed lower chromatic contrast to host eggs than those assigned randomly to other nests with egg-laying date similar to naturally parasitized clutches. Moreover, egg matching in terms of chromaticity was better in naturally parasitized nests than it would be in the nests of the nearest active non-parasitized neighbour. However, there was no indication of matching in achromatic spectral characteristics whatsoever. Thus, our results clearly indicate that cuckoos select certain host nests to increase matching of their own eggs with host clutches, but only in chromatic characteristics. Our results suggest that the ability of cuckoos to actively choose host nests based on the eggshell appearance imposes a strong selection pressure on host egg recognition.

scholarly journals Killing behaviour of adult brood parasites

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Šulc ◽  
Gabriela Štětková ◽  
Václav Jelínek ◽  
Beata Czyż ◽  
Andrzej Dyrcz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Host Species ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Common Cuckoo ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
Parasitic Species ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
The Common

Avian brood parasites such as cuckoos or cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other (host) species. To fool their hosts, parasites evolved striking adaptations such as very fast egg-laying or eggs that mimic host eggs. Here, we present video-recordings where the common cuckoo females kill nestlings in host nests. This interesting behaviour has been also observed in other brood parasitic species and we speculate about its significance.

scholarly journals Fast and furious: host aggression modulates behaviour of brood parasites

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Václav Jelínek ◽  
Michal Šulc ◽  
Gabriela Štětková ◽  
Marcel Honza
Keyword(s):  
Brood Parasitism ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Nest Defence ◽  
Great Reed Warbler ◽  
Acrocephalus Arundinaceus ◽  
Brood Parasite ◽  
Cuculus Canorus ◽  
Common Cuckoo ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
The Common

ABSTRACTAvian brood parasites pose a serious threat for hosts, substantially reducing their fitness which selects for the evolution of host defences. A classic example of a host frontline defence is mobbing which frequently includes contact attacking of brood parasites. Here, we investigated how the nest defence of a very aggressive great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) host influences the speed of egg-laying and egg-removing behaviour of its brood parasite – the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). We video-recorded 168 brood parasitic events at 102 active host nests and found that cuckoos avoided host mobbing in only 62% of cases. If hosts spotted the cuckoo at their nests, they almost always attacked it (in 91 of 104 cases), however, such attacks only rarely and temporarily prevented cuckoos from parasitizing (11 additional cases). When attacked, cuckoos parasitized host nests significantly faster and left them immediately. However, when not attacked, cuckoos frequently stayed at or near the nest suggesting that host aggression, rather than the risk of being spotted, influences the speed of brood parasitism in this species. Further, we found that cuckoos performed egg-removing behaviour in all parasitic events without regard to host aggression. As a result, cuckoos removed at least one egg during all brood parasitism events except those when an egg slipped from their beaks and fell back into the nest (in 9 of 73 cases). This indicates that egg-removing behaviour is not costly for the common cuckoo and is an essential part of its parasitism strategy, widening understanding of this currently unexplained behaviour.

scholarly journals Great spotted cuckoos show dynamic patterns of host selection during the breeding season. The importance of laying stage and parasitism status of magpie nests

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 467-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Soler ◽  
Tomás Pérez-Contreras ◽  
Juan José Soler
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Host Selection ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Brood Parasite ◽  
Pica Pica ◽  
Clamator Glandarius ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
Host Interaction

Abstract Avian brood parasites depend entirely on their hosts to raise their nestlings until independence. Thus, parasite females should select suitable host nests for egg laying according to traits that enhance offspring survival. The availability of nests of certain characteristics influencing the survival of parasitic offspring is, however, temporally dynamic and, thus, patterns of host selection should be evaluated considering characteristics of available host nests the day of parasitism. This allows detecting possible seasonal changes and, therefore, a more realistic picture of host selection by brood parasites. In this paper, we adopt such a new approach and consider daily availability of magpie (Pica pica) host nests at different breeding stage that were or were not parasitized by the great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius). Theory predicts that cuckoos should select host nests at the laying stage. Accordingly, we detected that cuckoos preferred to parasitize magpie nests at the laying stage but, mainly, those that already harbored one or two cuckoo eggs, which may seem counterintuitive. We also showed that patterns of host selection by cuckoos varied during the breeding season, which implies that brood parasite–host interaction is dynamic depending on phenology. These patterns are hidden when not considering the temporally dynamic nature of the availability of host nests of characteristics of interest. We discuss the importance of such patterns and considering diary hosts nests availability for detecting them.

Experimental increase in female mass during the fertile phase leads to enhanced extra-pair paternity in pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mireia Plaza ◽  
Alejandro Cantarero ◽  
Juan Moreno
Keyword(s):  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Ficedula Hypoleuca ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Female Dominance ◽  
Laying Date ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Wing Loading ◽  
Potential Fecundity ◽  
Fertile Phase ◽  
Extra Pair Paternity

Female mass in most altricial birds reaches its maximum during breeding at egg-laying, which coincides temporally with the fertile phase when extra-pair paternity (EPP) is determined. Higher mass at laying may have two different effects on EPP intensity. On the one hand, it would lead to increased wing loading (body mass/wing area), which may impair flight efficiency and thereby reduce female’s capacity to resist unwanted extra-pair male approaches (sexual conflict hypothesis). On the other hand, it would enhance female condition, favouring her capacity to evade mate-guarding and to search for extra-pair mates (female choice hypothesis). In both cases, higher female mass at laying may lead to enhanced EPP. To test this prediction, we reduced nest building effort by adding a completely constructed nest in an experimental group of female pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca). Our treatment caused an increase in mass and thereby wing loading and this was translated into a significantly higher EPP in the manipulated group compared with the control group as expected. There was also a significant negative relationship between EPP and laying date and the extent of the white wing patch, an index of female dominance. More body reserves at laying mean not only a higher potential fecundity but a higher level of EPP as well. This interaction had not previously received due attention but should be considered in future studies of avian breeding strategies.

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