Indirect evidence of conspecific nest parasitism in the colonial whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida)

Paillisson, Jean‐Marc; Latraube, Franck; Marion, Loı̈c; Bretagnolle, Vincent

doi:10.1016/j.crvi.2008.04.010

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Moreover, our findings are consistent with an earlier study of Wood Storks that observed clutches with additional eggs after the first broods fledged [22]. Also, significant differences in sizes amongst nestlings from the same brood observed in some Wood Stork clutches from Amapa (S. N. Del Lama, unpublished data), can be interpreted as evidence of CBP as it has been in other bird species [61,62]. …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Conspecific brood parasitism has been proposed to be frequent in colonially nesting species [12,13,86] because colonial breeders would benefit from the close proximity and higher availability of potential host nests of other reproductive conspecifics for egg laying [62,79,87,88]. Colonial reproductive behaviour also increases the chances of encounters between fertile males and females and reduces the energetic costs for individuals searching for extra-pair mates, both of which may contribute to elevated rates of extra-pair copulations [11,56-58].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reconstructing genetic mating systems in the absence of parental information in colonially breeding waterbirds

2011

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BackgroundDNA-based studies have demonstrated that avian genetic mating systems vary widely, with many species deviating from long-assumed monogamy by practicing extra-pair paternity and conspecific brood parasitism. Colonially breeding waterbirds provide interesting models in which to investigate this question because they show nesting habits proposed to promote alternative reproductive strategies. However, little is known about the genetic mating systems of this group of birds, mainly due to difficulties in obtaining genetic data from incubating adults at nests that are necessary for conducting conventional parentage studies. Here, we inferred kinship patterns among offspring in broods of three co-distributed waterbird species, Wood Stork (Mycteria americana), Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) and Great Egret (Ardea alba egretta), to investigate genetic mating system in the absence of parental data.ResultsMulti-step analyses combining estimates of relatedness coefficients, formulation of relationship-hypotheses, significance testing of alternative hypotheses, and maximum-likelihood sibship reconstruction techniques revealed evidence that alternative reproductive strategies may be present in natural populations of Wood Storks and Roseate Spoonbills, whereas relatedness of co-nestlings diagnosed in the Great Egrets did not deviate from a hypothesis of genetic monogamy. Specifically, under this analytical framework, inferred kinship relationships revealed that Great Egret nests contained full-sibling nestlings (100%), with the Roseate Spoonbill (RS) and Wood Stork (WS) exhibiting proportions of half-siblings (RS: 5%) and/or unrelated nestlings (RS: 24%; WS: 70%), patterns consistent with extra-pair paternity and conspecific brood parasitism, respectively.ConclusionsWe provide evidence that genetic monogamy occurs in Brazilian natural breeding colonies of the Great Egret, but is not the sole reproductive strategy employed by the Wood Stork and the Roseate Spoonbill. In fact, extra-pair paternity and conspecific brood parasitism were common in the latter two species, with a combined frequency of 7.5% and 11.3% in Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork, respectively. Although geographically co-distributed, differences among these species may be due to variation in their life histories. From a methodological standpoint, the approach implemented here, although not free from limitations, can have broad application for analyzing systems with limited genealogical information and/or in studying similarly challenging organisms in which obtaining genetic data on complete families is problematic.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstructing genetic mating systems in the absence of parental information in colonially breeding waterbirds

2011

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“…Moreover, defending against parasitism is significantly challenging for colonially breeding species, given substantially higher densities of nests (Brown and Brown, ). CBP has already been reported in other waterbirds, including some of the same family as the white‐faced ibis (listed by Yom‐Tov, ), and also in seabirds such as the wiskered tern (Paillisson et al, ). The few studies based on genetic data available for waterbirds also reported deviation from monogamy within broods in natural populations of the roseate spoonbill, the wood stork, and the great egret (Miño et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…Colonial breeders in general have been shown to be more prone to CBP than solitary nesters (Brown and Brown, ). The greater availability of suitable host nests and the ease of their discovery within colonies (Geffen and Yom‐Tov, ; Lyon and Eadie, ; Paillisson et al, ), as well as the lack of territorial defense (Brown, ), have been proposed as possible mechanisms leading to greater CBP in colonial nesters. Moreover, defending against parasitism is significantly challenging for colonially breeding species, given substantially higher densities of nests (Brown and Brown, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conspecific Brood Parasitism in the White‐faced Ibis Plegadis chihi (Aves: Pelecaniformes) Revealed by Microsatellites' Based Kinship‐Reconstruction

Lama

2013

J. Exp. Zool.

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The white-faced ibis Plegadis chihi Vieillot, 1817 (Pelecaniformes: Threskiornithidae) is a socially monogamous colonially breeding bird in which behavioral and ecological observations suggest the occurrence of conspecific brood parasitism (CBP). We inferred aspects of the genetic mating system of P. chihi in nature, using a genetic approach in the absence of parental information. We used five heterologous microsatellite loci and a multiple-step methodological approach to infer kinship patterns among 104 pairs of nestlings sampled inside 80 nests in a breeding colony from southern Brazil. The estimated effective population size was 69 white-faced ibises (95% CI: 50-98), enough to ensure long-term population survival. Kinship patterns were identified for 38% of the analyzed pairs: 60% of the diagnosed pairs were identified as full-siblings, 2.5% as half-siblings and 37.5% as unrelated individuals. CBP could explain the presence of unrelated nestlings within broods, in agreement with available non-genetic evidence. The presence of half-siblings within broods could indicate extra-pair paternity. Results suggest that a non-strictly monogamous genetic mating system may be present in the white-faced ibis. This study is the first molecular approach to better characterize the reproductive behavior of P. chihi in the wild. Our findings set the stage for further research to investigate the possible causes and consequences of alternative reproductive strategies in this species.

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“…Since whiskered terns typically lay clutches of two or three eggs (Paillisson et al. ), 1‐egg clutches were considered incomplete and were not included in analyses. In 2012, we recorded four 1‐egg clutches (4.7%), all of which were deserted before hatching.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heterozygosity correlates with body size, nest site quality and productivity in a colonial waterbird, the whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida, Aves: Sternidae)

Minias

Dziadek

2014

J Zoolog Syst Evol Res

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Positive effects of individual heterozygosity on naturally selected traits have been reported in wild populations of many animal taxa. The aim of this study was to test whether heterozygosity predicts the quality of acquired nest sites and productivity in a colonially breeding waterbird, the whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida). For this purpose, 40 adult terns from a small, recently established population in Central Poland were typed at eight microsatellite loci. We demonstrate that individual heterozygosity is positively related to hatching success. We hypothesize that this association could be mediated by direct effects of heterozygosity on the competitive abilities of individuals. We found that more heterozygous terns tended to breed in better protected central parts of the colony, suggesting that they had capabilities of outcompeting less heterozygous individuals and relegating them to the less attractive peripheries of the colony. It was also demonstrated that the link between heterozygosity and individual abilities to acquire more attractive nest site could be mediated by the larger size of heterozygous individuals. Although no correlations between heterozygosity and different components of condition were found, there was a positive association between female heterozygosity and both clutch size and egg size. We suggest that demonstrated heterozygosity‐fitness correlations could be primarily caused by inbreeding depression in the studied whiskered tern population.

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Indirect evidence of conspecific nest parasitism in the colonial whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida)

Cited by 11 publications

References 40 publications

Reconstructing genetic mating systems in the absence of parental information in colonially breeding waterbirds

Reconstructing genetic mating systems in the absence of parental information in colonially breeding waterbirds

Conspecific Brood Parasitism in the White‐faced Ibis Plegadis chihi (Aves: Pelecaniformes) Revealed by Microsatellites' Based Kinship‐Reconstruction

Heterozygosity correlates with body size, nest site quality and productivity in a colonial waterbird, the whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida, Aves: Sternidae)

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