Direct and indirect assessment of parasitism risk by a cuckoo host

Welbergen, Justin A.; Davies, N. B.

doi:10.1093/beheco/ars031

Cited by 30 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Rejection costs and errors were similar in Czech Republic and New Zealand song thrush, and even smaller in New Zealand than Czech Republic blackbirds, contrary to general expectations that costs and errors should be more frequent where hosts have less reliable cues of IP presence [48]. Similarly in contrast to predictions of the IP hypothesis, rejection rates did not decrease and, in some cases, were even much larger in New Zealand than Czech Republic.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 67%

Host responses to interspecific brood parasitism: a by-product of adaptations to conspecific parasitism?

et al. 2014

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BackgroundWhy have birds evolved the ability to reject eggs? Typically, foreign egg discrimination is interpreted as evidence that interspecific brood parasitism (IP) has selected for the host’s ability to recognize and eliminate foreign eggs. Fewer studies explore the alternative hypothesis that rejection of interspecific eggs is a by-product of host defenses, evolved against conspecific parasitism (CP). We performed a large scale study with replication across taxa (two congeneric Turdus thrushes), space (populations), time (breeding seasons), and treatments (three types of experimental eggs), using a consistent design of egg rejection experiments (n = 1057 nests; including controls), in areas with potential IP either present (Europe; native populations) or absent (New Zealand; introduced populations). These comparisons benefited from the known length of allopatry (one and a half centuries), with no gene flow between native and introduced populations, which is rarely available in host-parasite systems.ResultsHosts rejected CP at unusually high rates for passerines (up to 60%). CP rejection rates were higher in populations with higher conspecific breeding densities and no risks of IP, supporting the CP hypothesis. IP rejection rates did not covary geographically with IP risk, contradicting the IP hypothesis. High egg rejection rates were maintained in the relatively long-term isolation from IP despite non-trivial rejection costs and errors.ConclusionsThese egg rejection patterns, combined with recent findings that these thrushes are currently unsuitable hosts of the obligate parasitic common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), are in agreement with the hypothesis that the rejection of IP is a by-product of fine-tuned egg discrimination evolved due to CP. Our study highlights the importance of considering both IP and CP simultaneously as potential drivers in the evolution of egg discrimination, and illustrates how populations introduced to novel ecological contexts can provide critical insights into brood parasite-host coevolution.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 67%

Host responses to interspecific brood parasitism: a by-product of adaptations to conspecific parasitism?

et al. 2014

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“…The cuckoo Cuculus canorus is a brood parasite that exploits the reproductive behaviors of numerous host species to incubate its eggs and raise its chicks (Davies, 2011;Soler et al, 1999;Welbergen and Davies, 2012). As such, these birds have a specific relationship with potential host populations (Stokke et al, 2007;Wesołowski and Mokwa, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, these birds have a specific relationship with potential host populations (Stokke et al, 2007;Wesołowski and Mokwa, 2013). Most insectivorous passerines in Europe have an history of interacting with the common cuckoo, and these pairwise interactions possibly indicate tight co-evolution (Krüger et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cuckoo and biodiversity: Testing the correlation between species occurrence and bird species richness in Europe

Morelli

Jiguet

Reif

et al. 2015

Biological Conservation

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“…; Røskaft et al. ), spatial and temporal patterns of brood parasitism (Lindholm & Thomas ; Welbergen & Davies ), host individual experience (Čapek et al. ; Campobello & Sealy ), sex (Požgayová et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repeatability of Host Female and Male Aggression Towards a Brood Parasite

et al. 2013

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Current research on behavioural consistency showed that various types of animal behaviour are highly repeatable in the context of mate choice, exploration and parental care, including nest protection. However, the repeatability of aggressive nest defence has not yet been studied in hosts of brood parasites, although host aggression against adult parasites represents a crucial line of antiparasitic defences. Here, we investigated the between‐season repeatability of the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) aggression towards a stuffed dummy of the brood parasitic common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). We found that under the relatively stable risk of brood parasitism across breeding seasons, female responses to the cuckoo were highly repeatable, whereas male responses were variable. We suggest that the potential explanation for the observed patterns of female and male behaviours may lie in female's prominent roles in offspring care and nest protection, and in her lower renesting potential in comparison with that of males. However, further studies on the relationship between host aggression and other types of behaviours (host personality) and their fitness consequences under the fluctuating parasitism pressures are required to clarify the adaptive significance of aggressive behaviour observed in hosts of brood parasites.

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Direct and indirect assessment of parasitism risk by a cuckoo host

Cited by 30 publications

References 52 publications

Host responses to interspecific brood parasitism: a by-product of adaptations to conspecific parasitism?

Host responses to interspecific brood parasitism: a by-product of adaptations to conspecific parasitism?

Cuckoo and biodiversity: Testing the correlation between species occurrence and bird species richness in Europe

Repeatability of Host Female and Male Aggression Towards a Brood Parasite

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