Evidence for egg discrimination preceding failed rejection attempts in a small cuckoo host
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This is the first demonstration of a cuckoo host discriminating against real parasitic eggs but often accepting them, and results show that in host species experiencing difficulties in performing puncture ejection, non-mimetic cuckoos eggs may avoid rejection by means of their unusually high structural strength.Abstract:
Given the high costs of avian obligate brood parasitism, host individuals are selected to reject parasitic eggs they recognize as foreign. We show that rejection may not necessarily follow egg discrimination when selective removal of the parasitic egg is difficult. We studied egg rejection behaviour in a small host of the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus, the eastern olivaceous warbler Hippolais pallida, by experimental parasitism with model and real non-mimetic cuckoo eggs and video recordings of host behaviour. Hosts pecked 87 per cent (20 out of 23) of the model eggs but eventually accepted 43.5 per cent (10 out of 23) of them. A similar pattern was found for real cuckoo eggs, which were all pecked, but as many as 47 per cent (7 out of 15) of them were accepted. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a cuckoo host discriminating against real parasitic eggs but often accepting them. Our results also show that in host species experiencing difficulties in performing puncture ejection, non-mimetic cuckoo eggs may avoid rejection by means of their unusually high structural strength.read more
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Using 3D printed eggs to examine the egg-rejection behaviour of wild birds.
Branislav Igic,Valerie Nunez,Henning U. Voss,Rebecca Croston,Rebecca Croston,Zachary Aidala,Zachary Aidala,Analía V. López,Aimee Van Tatenhove,Mandë Holford,Matthew D. Shawkey,Mark E. Hauber +11 more
TL;DR: It is shown that robins accept mimetically coloured and reject non-mimetically coloured artificial eggs, and 3D printing will provide an opportunity for more extensive experimentation on the potential biological or evolutionary significance of size and shape variation of foreign eggs in rejection decisions.
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Different recognition cues reveal the decision rules used for egg rejection by hosts of a variably mimetic avian brood parasite
TL;DR: It is found that the presence of spotting significantly decreased the probability of rejection while increments in brightness significantly increased rejection frequencies, and the cognitive rules underlying mockingbird rejection behavior can be explained by a decision-making model which predicts changes in the levels of rejection in direct relation to the number of relevant attributes shared between host and parasite eggs.
Journal ArticleDOI
Spectral tuning and perceptual differences do not explain the rejection of brood parasitic eggs by American robins ( Turdus migratorius )
TL;DR: The research combined avian visual perceptual modeling and behavioral experimentation to investigate chromatic cues eliciting parasitic egg rejection in American robins, and suggests that robins respond specifically to parasitism by cowbirds, despite an apparent lack of sensory tuning toward the detection of the background color of cowbird eggs.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Value of Artificial Stimuli in Behavioral Research: Making the Case for Egg Rejection Studies in Avian Brood Parasitism
Mark E. Hauber,Lainga Tong,Miklós Bán,Rebecca Croston,Tomáš Grim,Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse,Matthew D. Shawkey,Andrew B. Barron,Csaba Moskát +8 more
TL;DR: In response to repeated criticism about the value of artificial stimuli, four potential benefits of using them in egg recognition research are described and a specific test of whether responses to artificial cues can accurately predict responses to natural cues is provided.
Journal ArticleDOI
Do Nest Light Conditions Affect Rejection of Parasitic Eggs? A Test of the Light Environment Hypothesis
TL;DR: This study examined whether the objectively measured nest light environment affects great reed warbler responses towards real common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) eggs and predicted that parasitic eggs will be rejected with a lower frequency from nests placed in darker conditions than those in lighter conditions, but found no effect of the ambient light on egg-rejection behaviour alone.
References
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An experimental study of co-evolution between the cuckoo, cuculus canorus, and its hosts. ii. host egg markings, chick discrimination and general discussion
TL;DR: The variation in rejection of unlike eggs among different species of suitable cuckoo hosts is not related to the current costs or benefits of rejecting cuckoos, and it is suggested that the variation represents snap shots in evolutionary time of different stages of a species.
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Behavioural Responses of Potential Hosts Towards Artificial Cuckoo Eggs and Dummies
TL;DR: The results of this study lend support to the hypothesis that the differences in the degree of responses by the host species towards parasitism by the cuckoo reflect different stages in a continuous coevolutionary arms race with cuckoos.
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Recognition Errors and Probability of Parasitism Determine Whether Reed Warblers Should Accept or Reject Mimetic Cuckoo Eggs
TL;DR: It is shown that below a threshold of 19-41% parasitism, the warblers should accept mimetic cuckoo eggs because the costs of rejection outweigh the benefits, whereas above this threshold they should reject.
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Rejection Behavior by Common Cuckoo Hosts Towards Artificial Brood Parasite Eggs
TL;DR: The puncture resistance hypothesis proposed to explain the adaptive value (or evolution) of strength in cowbird eggs is supported and has received support from Picman and Rohwer et al.