Nest defence and egg rejection in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) as protection against conspecific brood parasitism

Ryan, Peter G.; Hierro, Maria Dolores G. López de

doi:10.1163/156853908784089270

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Sophisticated egg discrimination has evolved in several species where effects of IP can be excluded [65,66] or played a secondary role to CP [9]; see also [11,16,24,63]. The costs of providing parental care for genetically unrelated young in CP are sufficient to drive evolution of some host defenses [67-69], even if CP occurs at low frequencies [70].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The costs of providing parental care for genetically unrelated young in CP are sufficient to drive evolution of some host defenses [67-69], even if CP occurs at low frequencies [70]. This is supported by the egg rejection abilities of hosts that are not parasitized by heterospecifics, e.g., in gulls [71], terns [72], murres [73], coots [68], rails [74], communally nesting cuckoos [69] and woodpeckers [75], and various passerines that are unsuitable cuckoo hosts, e.g., starlings ( Sturnus vulgaris ) [2], house sparrows ( Passer domesticus ) [65,66,70,76] and Eurasian tree sparrows ( P. montanus ) [77]. These patterns empirically reject theoretical arguments that CP is not sufficiently costly to select for host defenses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2014

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“…The evolution of rejection behaviour has been facilitated by the noticeable difference between parasitic and host eggs allowing hosts to use various visual cues for recognition (Honza and Cherry 2017;Samaš et al 2021). Egg rejection has also been observed in some conspecific brood parasites (Møller 1987;Brown and Brown 1989;Peer and Sealy 2000;Lahti and Lahti 2002;Lyon 2003;de Hierro and Ryan 2008;Soler et al 2011;Samaš et al 2014), whose eggs are intrinsically more similar to the host eggs. All these studies indicate that hosts have at least a rudimentary ability to recognise and reject parasitic eggs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nest sanitation as an effective defence against brood parasitism

et al. 2022

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Egg rejection is a crucial defence strategy against brood parasitism, that requires the host to correctly recognise the foreign egg. Rejection behaviour has thus evolved in many hosts, facilitated by the visual differences between the parasitic and host eggs, and driving hosts to rely on colour and pattern cues.On the other hand, the need to recognise non-egg-shaped objects to carry out nest sanitation led birds to evolve the ability to discriminate and eject objects using mainly shape cues. However, little is known regarding the evolutionary significance of rejection behaviour in general and the cognitive processes underlying it. Here, we investigated the response of the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) during prelaying and laying stages to four objects types that differed in shape (eggs vs stars) and colour/pattern (mimetic vs non-mimetic) to investigate 1) what cognitive mechanisms are involved in object discrimination and 2) whether egg rejection is a direct defence against brood parasitism, or simply a product of nest sanitation. We found that swallows ejected stars more often than eggs in both stages, indicating that swallows possess a template for the shape of their eggs. Since the effect of colour/pattern on ejection decisions was minor, we suggest that barn swallows have not evolved a direct defence against brood parasitism but instead, egg ejection might be a product of their welldeveloped nest sanitation behaviour. Nonetheless, the fact that mimetic eggs were ejected especially in the pre-laying stage shows that nest sanitation could be an effective defence against poorly timed brood parasitism.

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Egg-spot pattern rather than egg colour affects conspecific egg rejection in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus)

López-de-Hierro

Moreno‐Rueda

2009

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Nest defence and egg rejection in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) as protection against conspecific brood parasitism

Cited by 8 publications

References 36 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?

Nest sanitation as an effective defence against brood parasitism

Egg-spot pattern rather than egg colour affects conspecific egg rejection in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus)

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