Community-level Patterns of Host Use by the Brown-headed Cowbird (<i>Molothrus ater</i>), a Generalist Brood Parasite

Rivers, James W.; Jensen, William E.; Kosciuch, Karl L.; Rothstein, Stephen I.

doi:10.1525/auk.2009.09053

Cited by 26 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Birds nesting at forest edges and in shrublands are parasitized at intermediate frequencies and those nesting in grasslands in the same region are rarely parasitized . In contrast, in the center of the cowbird's historic range in Kansas where the landscape consists almost wholly of grasslands, grassland species are parasitized at high frequencies (Elliott, 1978;Rivers et al, 2010). Parasitism of some host species, notably the Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) and Dickcissel (Spiza americana), also vary geographically (Linz and Bolin, 1982;Jensen and Cully, 1995;Searcy and Yasukawa, 1995) possibly due to alternative host choices within given avian communities (e.g., Barber and Martin, 1997).…”

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“…Estimates of the numbers of eggs laid by individual females in the wild range from 13 to more than 40 (Scott and Ankney, 1983;Fleischer et al, 1987;Alderson et al, 1999; see also Holford and Roby, 1993), but there is some consensus that cowbirds lay eggs on about 70-80% of the days during their breeding season (Fleischer et al, 1987). Multiple parasitism is relatively common in cowbirds (Robinson, 1992;Rivers et al, 2010;Fig. 4) and can result from multiple females parasitizing a nest or individual females laying multiple eggs within a single nest (Alderson et al, 1999;McLaren et al, 2003;Rivers et al, 2012).…”

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The Brown-headed Cowbird: North America’s avian brood parasite

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Rivers²,

Rothstein³

2013

Chinese Birds

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There are five species of parasitic cowbirds (Molothrus) and the Brown-headed Cowbird (M. ater) is the only widespread species in North America. The Brown-headed Cowbird is a host generalist and is typically found in open habitats and forest edges. The cowbirds are of a more recent origin than many other brood parasites and perhaps as a result, cowbird adaptations for parasitism and their hosts' counter-adaptations to thwart parasitism do not appear as sophisticated as those of other brood parasite-host systems. Because of its generalist nature, the cowbird has the potential to negatively impact endangered host species whose populations are limited due to anthropogenic habitat loss. As a consequence, the Brown-headed Cowbird is one of the few brood parasitic species that is the subject of control programs to limit its effects on such hosts.

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The Brown-headed Cowbird: North America’s avian brood parasite

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Rivers²,

Rothstein³

2013

Chinese Birds

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“…In this study, we assessed the potential for vocal learning plasticity and the underlying neural circuits involved with begging calls in a generalist brood parasite, the Brown‐headed Cowbird ( Molothrus ater , hereafter cowbird). This species is one of the most generalized brood parasites in the world, using hundreds of host species across its geographic range (Ortega, ) with >20 hosts parasitized within a single community (Rivers et al, ). Importantly, some female cowbirds appear to be host generalists at the individual level, so cowbird offspring originating from a single mother may be raised by different host species within a community and experience markedly different rearing environments (Woolfenden et al, ; Strausberger and Ashley, ).…”

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Vocal matching and intensity of begging calls are associated with a forebrain song circuit in a generalist brood parasite

Liu

Rivers

White

2015

Developmental Neurobiology

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Vocalizations produced by developing young early in life have simple acoustic features and are thought to be innate. Complex forms of early vocal learning are less likely to evolve in young altricial songbirds because the forebrain vocal-learning circuit is underdeveloped during the period when early vocalizations are produced. However, selective pressure experienced in early postnatal life may lead to early vocal learning that is likely controlled by a simpler brain circuit. We found the food begging calls produced by fledglings of the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater), a generalist avian brood parasite, induced the expression of several immediate early genes and early circuit innervation in a forebrain vocal-motor pathway that is later used for vocal imitation. The forebrain neural activity was correlated with vocal intensity and variability of begging calls that appears to allow cowbirds to vocally match host nestmates. The begging-induced forebrain circuits we observed in fledgling cowbirds were not detected in nonparasitic passerines, including species that are close relatives to the cowbird. The involvement of forebrain vocal circuits during fledgling begging and its association with vocal learning plasticity may be an adaptation that provides young generalist brood parasites with a flexible signaling strategy to procure food from a wide range of heterospecific host parents.

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“…Because they may influence population and community dynamics over continental scales, host-parasite interactions need to be considered among the processes that influence species' conservation status at biogeographical scales (Rivers et al, 2010). Parasites are expected to trigger variability in host occurrence, abundance or demography that cannot be explained by environmental conditions or competitive interactions among the host species (Ricklefs, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies have attempted to evaluate the communitywide influence of cowbirds (Strausberger & Ashley, 1997;Lorenzana & Sealy, 1999;Rivers et al, 2010;Cummings & Veech, 2013), but these have mainly been concerned with the local effects of parasitism on spatial patterns of host species richness or abundance. Hence, the demographic consequences of parasitism on the whole assemblage of common passerine hosts remain to be assessed at regional and continental scales.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic spatial interactions between the native invader Brown‐headed Cowbird and its hosts

Barnagaud

Papaïx

Giménez

et al. 2014

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim We investigated the contribution of parasitism by the Brown‐headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) to its host population dynamics at a subcontinental scale. We predicted that the growth rate of cowbirds would be most strongly related to the abundance of forest insectivorous hosts and that landscape fragmentation would have opposite effects on the parasite and its hosts. Furthermore, due to the species' sedentarity and low rates of adult dispersal, we expected that cowbird population dynamics would be structured at local, rather than large spatial scales. Location The Great Plains, United States. Methods We modelled jointly the population dynamics of cowbird and its 58 most common hosts, accounting for effects of landscape fragmentation and cowbird dispersal. We used Bayesian inference to evaluate this model on 76 routes of the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), surveyed each year from 2001 to 2011. We then analysed covariations between the demographic dynamics of cowbirds and their hosts in a multivariate ecological trait space. Results Contrary to most of its hosts, the cowbird had positive growth rates in man‐disturbed, fragmented landscapes, which covaried at small spatial scales. The large‐scale effects of parasitism were limited, as few host species affected, or were affected by cowbird growth rates. However, significant cowbird–host relationships were structured by ecological traits: cowbird growth rates were most increased by the abundance of ecological generalists, while hosts were affected by cowbird abundance irrespective of their position in the functional space. Main conclusions Cowbirds parasitize opportunistically the hosts occurring in disturbed landscapes. The large‐scale effects of nest parasitism therefore depend probably on landscape structure and other environmental factors operating at local scales. We suggest that efforts to counter the local and continental declines of many passerine species should include parasitism among the biotic components of landscape disturbance.

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Community-level Patterns of Host Use by the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), a Generalist Brood Parasite

Cited by 26 publications

References 36 publications

The Brown-headed Cowbird: North America’s avian brood parasite

The Brown-headed Cowbird: North America’s avian brood parasite

Vocal matching and intensity of begging calls are associated with a forebrain song circuit in a generalist brood parasite

Dynamic spatial interactions between the native invader Brown‐headed Cowbird and its hosts

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