Brood-parasite interactions between great spotted cuckoos and magpies: a model system for studying coevolutionary relationships

Abstract

Brood parasitism is one of the systems where coevolutionary processes have received the most research. Here, we review experiments that suggest a coevolutionary process between the great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) and its magpie (Pica pica) host. We focus on different stages of establishment of the relationship, from cuckoos selecting individual hosts and hosts defending their nests from adult cuckoos, to the ability of magpies to detect cuckoo eggs in their nests. Novel coevolutionary insights emerge from our synthesis of the literature, including how the evolution of "Mafia" behaviour in cuckoos does not necessarily inhibit the evolution of host recognition and rejection of cuckoo offspring, and how different populations of black-billed magpies in Europe have evolved specific host traits (e.g. nest and clutch size) as a result of interactions with the great spotted cuckoo. Finally, the results of the synthesis reveal the importance of using a meta-population approach when studying coevolution. This is especially relevant in those cases where gene flow among populations with different degrees of brood parasitism explains patterns of coexistence between defensive and non-defensive host phenotypes. We propose the use of a meta-population approach to distinguish between the "evolutionary equilibrium" hypothesis and the "evolutionary lag" hypothesis.

Hawk mimicry and the evolution of polymorphic cuckoos

“…Future research should explore similarities and differences between hawk-like and not hawk-like cuckoos by asking if some hosts are more easily fooled by hawk disguises, if some use different strategies for parasitism (e.g. distraction tactics by Clamator cuckoos (Soler and Soler, 2000) …”

Benefits associated with escalated begging behaviour of black-billed magpie nestlings overcompensate the associated energetic costs

“…Once a new nest was detected, we visited it regularly to determine the laying date. During the laying period, nests were checked at least twice per week to determine laying date, clutch size and the occurrence of brood parasitism by the great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius), which is common in these areas (Soler and Soler, 2000). We used magpie nestlings from natural non-parasitized broods (natural broods) and from experimental parasitized broods, where two magpie and two great spotted cuckoo nestlings shared the nest during development (parasitized broods).…”

Do first-time breeding females imprint on their own eggs?

“…Probably the most important of these cases is the one that involves learning the appearance of their own eggs by host rejecters of brood parasite eggs (reviewed in [5]). Namely, given that brood parasitism triggers high fitness costs, this strong selective pressure has favoured the evolution of egg rejection as a host defence [5,12,13], and the recognition processes underlying egg rejection of parasitic eggs are assumed to be based on learning the aspect of the female's own eggs during her first breeding attempt (i.e. an imprinting-like process) and later rejection of foreign eggs differing in appearance from the learned aspect of the eggs [14][15][16][17][18][19].…”