Does the house sparrow <i>Passer domesticus</i> represent a global model species for egg rejection behavior?

Manna, Thomas J.; Cooper, Caren B.; Baylis, Shane M.; Shawkey, Matthew D.; Waterhouse, Geoffrey I. N.; Grim, Tomáš; Hauber, Márk E.

doi:10.1111/jav.01193

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(43 reference statements)

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“…Cavity nesting can prevent successful Cuckoo parasitism due to both entrance size (Lambrechts et al 2010) and the inner size of the cavity itself (Avilés et al 2006). As text-book examples of unsuitable hosts -if we accept the traditional view -they should not reject any foreign eggs (Davies 2000, see also Manna et al 2016). Classical studies supported this view (Davies & Brooke 1989, Moksnes et al 1991; see also recent data: Grim 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth Performance of Nestling CuckoosCuculus canorusin Cavity Nesting Hosts

Grim

Samaš

2016

Acta Ornithologica

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Generalist brood parasites, like Common Cuckoos Cuculus canorus, target many host species. Why other sympatric hosts are not used, or actively avoided, remains one of the main gaps in our understanding of parasite-host coevolution. Cavity nesting passerines always represented a textbook example of unsuitable hosts but recent evidence casts multiple doubts on this traditional view. In general, any species can become an unsuitable host for a parasite at laying, incubation, or nestling stages with the last one being much less studied than the others. Therefore we examined Cuckoo chick performance in five cavity nesting host species, including one regular Cuckoo host-the Common Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus and four non-hosts: the Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca, Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata, Great Tit Parus major, and Coal Tit Periparus ater. Natural nests of non-hosts, as opposed to artificial nest boxes with small entrance holes, are often placed in cavities that show both entrance and inner cavity sizes large enough for female Cuckoos to lay and Cuckoo chicks to fledge. We did not find any evidence for chick discrimination in non-hosts, i.e., no chicks were rejected, attacked, or neglected. Cuckoo chicks grew similarly in nests of all four species of non-hosts, similarly to chicks in host Redstart nests, and generally better than in nests of the most numerous Cuckoo host, the Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus. Although Cuckoo chick fledging mass was highly host speciesspecific (i.e., showed high statistical repeatability across various host species), we did not find any evidence for the hypothesis that host body size (mass) positively affects parasite chick growth (fledging mass or age). These findings provide impetus to further study apparently unsuitable hosts and perhaps even reconsider traditional classifications of host suitability in the context of brood parasite-host coevolution.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth Performance of Nestling CuckoosCuculus canorusin Cavity Nesting Hosts

Grim

Samaš

2016

Acta Ornithologica

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“…Overall, our globally extensive and methodologically consistent study represents an opportunity to step beyond the multifold independent introduction history of a globally invasive species. Spatially isolated non-native populations allow independent tests of ecologically-relevant adaptive scenarios about behavioral tactics and strategies that would be often hard or impossible to test in native populations only (e.g., Letnic and Dworjanyn 2011;Samas et al 2014;Grim and Stokke 2016;Manna et al 2017;Ruland and Jeschke 2020;González-Lagos et al 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive patterns of anti-predator escape behavior in a globally introduced bird species

Grim,

Dor,

Hauber

2024

Self Cite

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Introduced species can represent quasi-experimental, anthropogenic case studies of both ecological and evolutionary principles. When these species are firmly established, competitive interactions between native and introduced species interactions, including foraging, spacing, and breeding competition, may be among the ecological costs incurred from such species invasions. In turn, genetic and/or plasticity-driven changes in behavior and morphology could also take place in the invading species with increasing introduction lag (time since the onset of introduction). Critically, however, introduction lag is difficult to study in any single non-native population without long-term observations, and, instead, it requires geographically repeated measures of the focal response variables across invasive populations that were introduced at different times. Here we tested a priori predictors of predator-avoidance behaviors through the flight initiation distance (FID) assay of a widely distributed invasive bird species, the common myna Acridotheres tristis. The species was extensively and consistently sampled throughout most of its independently introduced ranges across all hemispheres. Critically, FID increased with greater introduction lag. We also detected additional functional patterns in that FID increased towards the rural range within a continuous metric of urban-rural gradient and also at shorter distances from the Equator. Any robust study of FID must also include proximate predictors as well and, accordingly, we found that FID increased with greater starting distance, with lower immediate human density, with flighted over walking escape responses, and at lower heights of a bird’s perch above ground but was unrelated to myna group size. Respectively, these factors are informative about the sensory cues triggering anti-predator behaviors in invasive mynas and imply an adaptive set of patterns of anti-predator responses in the introduced ranges of this species. Control measures of invasive common myna populations should take into account their extensive behavioral and cognitive flexibilities and adjust the planned management methods accordingly.

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“…For house sparrows in Europe, although rejection of conspecific eggs was reported (Lopez de Hierro and Moreno-Rueda 2010; Soler et al 2011; but see Yang et al 2015aYang et al , 2016b, Manna et al (2017) Cross-fostering experiments indicated that Russet Sparrows have chick recognition abilities. According to our results, newly hatched alien chicks, which cannot produce begging calls yet, were ejected or starved to dead in sparrow nests, which implied that Russet Sparrow can identify alien chicks by visual cues.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Generally their egg recognition capacities are absent or negligible and some of them (e.g. House Sparrow P. domesticus) were suggested to be unsuitable model species for egg rejection experiments on a global scale (Manna et al 2017). However, they have never been used as hosts by any parasitic cuckoo (Moksnes and Røskaft 1995;Yang et al 2012b) and till now this puzzle has not been reasonably explained.…”

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Russet Sparrows spot alien chicks from their nests

Huo

Yang

et al. 2018

Avian Res

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Background:In coevolutionary interactions between brood parasites and their hosts, host parents are under strong selection to evolve defenses against parasitism. Egg rejection is an efficient and common defense against parasitism, although some apparently suitable hosts do not reject cuckoo eggs.Methods: Sparrows Ploceidae are widespread throughout the Old World, and they have a suitable diet for rearing cuckoos, but still they are rarely exploited by brood parasites. To solve such puzzle, we conducted artificial parasitism and cross-fostering experiments in Russet Sparrow (Passer cinnamomeus). Results:The present study showed that Russet Sparrows have no egg recognition ability, but recognize their own nestlings and eject alien chicks or starve them to death. They may use visual cues in chick recognition, although they accept sister species Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus). Conclusions:By rejecting nestlings of foreign species, Russet Sparrows have succeeded to escape from the brood parasitism by cuckoos and other parasites. Our studies shed light on the puzzle why some species are not utilized by cuckoo parasites as hosts.

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Does the house sparrow Passer domesticus represent a global model species for egg rejection behavior?

Cited by 8 publications

References 25 publications

Growth Performance of Nestling CuckoosCuculus canorusin Cavity Nesting Hosts

Growth Performance of Nestling CuckoosCuculus canorusin Cavity Nesting Hosts

Adaptive patterns of anti-predator escape behavior in a globally introduced bird species

Russet Sparrows spot alien chicks from their nests

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