Post‐fledging interactions between the Common Cuckoo <i>Cuculus canorus</i> and its cavity‐nesting Common Redstart <i>Phoenicurus phoenicurus</i> host

Kysučan, Michal; Samaš, Peter; Grim, Tomáš

doi:10.1111/ibi.12719

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 54 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As it has been reported for other host-parasite species (e.g. Woodward 1983;Soler et al 2014a;Kysučan et al 2019), baywing and shiny cowbird fledglings remain hidden in the vegetation near the nesting site during the first 2-3 days after fledging, and then they progressively increase their movements as their flight abilities improve (De Mársico et al 2012). Fledglings are easy to locate within the natal territories through their conspicuous begging calls and the noisy alarm calls of the attending adults.…”

Section: Field Procedures and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Non-mimetic shiny cowbird nestlings escape discrimination by baywings in absence of host nest mates

Ripari

Segura

Reboreda

et al. 2019

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nestlings of obligate brood parasites must obtain resources from heterospecific hosts that are attuned to the solicitation behaviours of their own progeny. Failing to match the appropriate stimuli may result in suboptimal provisioning or even the starvation of parasite young. Parasitic nestlings could overcome it by sharing the nest with host young, as long as they are able to compete efficiently for parental feedings. Here, we examined if non-mimetic shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) nestlings reared alone fail to elicit sufficient parental care from the grayish baywing (Agelaioides badius), a host that discriminates between their own and parasitic nestlings based on species-specific begging cues. We manipulated baywing broods to assess the ability of shiny cowbird nestlings to elicit parental provisioning and survive without host nest mates. Host provisioning rates and survival did not differ between shiny cowbirds reared alone and host nestlings in singleton broods. Also, growth patterns of experimental nestlings reared alone were similar to those reported for shiny cowbirds reared alongside baywing young. Hence, we did not find support for the hypothesis that non-mimetic nestlings require the assistance of host nest mates to elicit sufficient parental care from its baywing host. Furthermore, we found that shiny cowbirds that were reared alone continued receiving care from baywings after fledging, unlike shiny cowbirds from mixed broods. Our results add evidence to the idea of opposing selective pressures on the evolution of nest mate acceptance in cowbirds and suggest context-dependent host's discrimination abilities that deserve further investigation. Significance statementThe evolution of nest mate killing versus tolerance strategies is a long-standing question in the study of brood parasitism. Parasitic nestlings may benefit from sharing the nest with host young if they collectively induce more parental provisioning and the parasite can benefit from it. Host nest mates could also confer protection against discrimination when hosts respond preferentially to stimuli of their own kind. We examined this idea in a generalist brood parasite, the shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis), and a host able to discriminate species-specific begging cues. The results showed that shiny cowbirds reared alone performed well and circumvent host discrimination also after leaving the nest. Our study supports the existence of trade-offs on the evolution of nest mate killing behaviours and adds evidence that context-dependent host's discrimination abilities similar to those observed towards parasitic eggs can be at play towards parasitic fledglings.

show abstract

Section: Field Procedures and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Non-mimetic shiny cowbird nestlings escape discrimination by baywings in absence of host nest mates

Ripari

Segura

Reboreda

et al. 2019

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These behaviours made it impossible for us to anticipate for how long our focal subjects will settle at any given location, thus precluding the standardization of exposure to the stimuli within and among playback treatments. Also, we could not avoid interferences due to the presence of host's own fledglings (see Kysučan et al 2020 for similar field constraints). Given these limitations, we opted for conducting the experiment during the late nestling stage.…”

Section: Playback Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In theory, similar coevolved adaptations could arise at the fledgling stage, but host-parasite interactions during this critical period are rather poorly known (Soler et al 2014;De Mársico et al 2017;Tyller et al 2018;Kysučan et al 2020). This is likely due to the difficulty of conducting direct behavioural observations during and after the transition to the post-fledgling period and of following individual fledglings in the field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is likely due to the difficulty of conducting direct behavioural observations during and after the transition to the post-fledgling period and of following individual fledglings in the field. The increasingly available technology for animal tracking is helping to fill this gap (Soler et al 2014;De Mársico et al 2017;Tyller et al 2018;Kysučan et al 2020), but experimental studies of putative adaptations in brood-parasitic fledglings are scarce (Soler et al 2014;De Mársico et al 2017;Tyller et al 2018;Kysučan et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Acoustic discrimination by hosts favours vocal trickery in fledglings of the brood-parasitic screaming cowbird

Lama

Ursino

Reboreda

et al. 2022

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Agonistic interactions between obligate avian brood parasites and their hosts can lead to the coevolution at any stage of the nesting cycle, yet adaptations and counter-adaptations at the fledgling stage are poorly known. Young of the host-specialist screaming cowbird (Molothrus rufoaxillaris) closely resemble those of its greyish baywing (Agelaioides badius) host in appearance and begging calls. This overall similarity has shown to be adaptive to escape host discrimination after leaving the nest, but the role of acoustic signals in host deception remained unclear. We examined whether baywing parents are able to distinguish between begging calls of mimetic and non-mimetic fledglings and whether screaming cowbirds can trick host parents by vocally resembling host young. We conducted a field playback experiment using fledgling calls of screaming cowbird (mimetic), shiny cowbird (M. bonariensis; non-mimetic) and baywing (conspecific control) in the absence of any visual stimuli. Baywings were significantly less responsive to non-mimetic shiny cowbird calls than to the other call types and more responsive to screaming cowbird calls than to conspecific calls. The results support the idea that baywings cue in on species-specific acoustic signals for fledgling recognition and that vocal similarity to host young in screaming cowbirds plays a role in host deception. The observed host preference for screaming cowbird over conspecific calls further suggests that vocal mimicry in brood parasites could be reinforced by the expression of acoustic features that either act as a supernormal stimulus or exploit host's pre-existing sensory biases. Significance statementBrood-parasitic screaming cowbird juveniles closely resemble those of its primary host, the greyish baywing, in plumage appearance and vocalizations. Using a field playback experiment, we studied the ability of adult baywings to discriminate against foreign juveniles based on vocal cues, in the absence of any visual stimuli. Baywings responded differentially to own-species and non-mimetic calls, and even more, they were more attracted to screaming cowbird calls than to those of conspecific juveniles. The study supports the idea that baywings use acoustic signals to distinguish between their own and foreign fledglings, thus favouring the evolution of vocal mimicry in its specialist brood parasite. Moreover, the results suggest that screaming cowbird fledglings would be even more effective than host's own young in attracting parental attention through their begging calls.

show abstract

“…Fledglings and immatures show considerable movement in the post-breeding period before migration, a potential sign of prospecting for future breeding sites (Péron and Grémillet 2013;Brown and Taylor 2015;Vega et al 2016;Krüger and Amar 2017). On the other hand, breeding adults and their offspring often remain close (< 100 m) to their nest sites for less than 10 days after fledging (Streby and Andersen 2013;van Overveld et al 2017;Kysučan et al 2020). Therefore, the post-breeding social cues based on the density of adults and fledglings, or their proxies, such as fledgling call rates (Nocera et al 2006;Betts et al 2008;Kelly and Schmidt 2017) may be spatially accurate for only relatively short period of time.…”

Section: Electronic Supplementary Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information collected during the post-breeding season guides future breeding decisions in a migratory bird

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Breeding habitat choice and investment decisions are key contributors to fitness in animals. Density of individuals is a well-known cue of habitat quality used for future breeding decisions, but accuracy of density cues decreases as individuals disperse from breeding sites. Used nests remain an available information source also after breeding season, but whether such information is used for breeding decisions is less well known. We experimentally investigated whether migratory, cavitynesting pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) prospect potential breeding sites after breeding season and use old nests as a cue for future breeding decisions. In late summer 2013, forest sites were assigned to four treatments: (1) sites including nest boxes with old nests of heterospecifics (tits), (2) sites including suitable but empty nest boxes, (3) sites with unsuitable nest boxes, or (4) sites without any nest boxes. In the following year, we investigated pied flycatcher habitat choice and reproductive investment according to these "past" cues while also controlling for additional information sources present during settlement. Flycatchers preferred sites where tits had been perceived to breed in the previous year, but only if great tits were also currently breeding in the site and had a relatively high number of eggs. Old flycatchers avoided sites previously treated with suitable but empty cavities, whereas young flycatchers preferred sites where tits had apparently bred in the previous year. Also egg mass, but not clutch size or clutch mass, was affected by the combination of past treatment information and current tit abundance.

show abstract

Post‐fledging interactions between the Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus and its cavity‐nesting Common Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus host

Cited by 6 publications

References 54 publications

Non-mimetic shiny cowbird nestlings escape discrimination by baywings in absence of host nest mates

Non-mimetic shiny cowbird nestlings escape discrimination by baywings in absence of host nest mates

Acoustic discrimination by hosts favours vocal trickery in fledglings of the brood-parasitic screaming cowbird

Information collected during the post-breeding season guides future breeding decisions in a migratory bird

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About