The modelling of avian visual perception predicts behavioural rejection responses to foreign egg colours

Cassey, Phillip; Honza, Marcel; Grim, Tomáš; Hauber, Márk E.

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2008.0279

Cited by 116 publications

(130 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…That the rejection of foreign eggs does not depend on the degree of contrast between eggs and the nest lining (this study) provides support for earlier findings in hosts of egg-mimetic brood parasites that egg rejection is driven mechanistically by differences between foreign and own eggs (Cassey et al, 2008;Stevens et al, 2013;Moskat et al, 2014b). In contrast, cowbird eggs in robin nests are exceptional to this pattern: Croston and Hauber (2014a) showed that while robins' responses to artificial egg colors are generally predicted by chromatic JNDs differentiating foreign versus host eggs, artificial cowbird ground color-mimetic (beige) eggs are rejected in 100% of trials, despite their relatively low avianperceivable chromatic difference from robin eggs (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Chromatic distance is but one component of broader sensory/perceptual (de la Colina et al, 2012) and cognition-dependent (Hauber and Sherman, 2001;Moskát and Hauber, 2007;Croston and Hauber, 2015) processes that ultimately result in the complex behavioral decision to accept or reject a parasitic egg. For example, there are a growing number of studies showing that perceptual difference alone does not fully explain patterns of egg rejection behavior (Moskát and Hauber, 2007;Moskát et al, 2010;Cassey et al, 2008;Stoddard and Stevens, 2011;Bán et al, 2013;Stevens et al, 2013;Croston and Hauber, 2014a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of egg-nest contrast in the rejection of brood parasitic eggs

Aidala

Croston

Schwartz

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Hosts of avian brood parasites can avoid the reproductive costs of raising genetically unrelated offspring by rejecting parasitic eggs. The perceptual cues and controls mediating parasitic egg discrimination and ejection are well studied: hosts are thought to use differences in egg color, brightness, maculation, size and shape to discriminate between their own and foreign eggs. Most theories of brood parasitism implicitly assume that the primary criteria to which hosts attend when discriminating eggs are differences between the eggs themselves. However, this assumption is confounded by the degree to which chromatic and achromatic characteristics of the nest lining co-vary with egg coloration, so that egg-nest contrast per se might be the recognition cue driving parasitic egg detection. Here, we systematically tested whether and how egg-nest contrast itself contributes to foreign egg discrimination. In an artificial parasitism experiment, we independently manipulated egg color and nest lining color of the egg-ejector American robin (Turdus migratorius), a host of the obligate brood parasitic brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater). We hypothesized that the degree of contrast between foreign eggs and the nest background would affect host egg rejection behavior. We predicted that experimentally decreasing egg-nest chromatic and achromatic contrast (i.e. rendering parasitic eggs more cryptic against the nest lining) would decrease rejection rates, while increasing egg-nest contrast would increase rejection rates. In contrast to our predictions, egg-nest contrast was not a significant predictor of egg ejection patterns. Instead, egg color significantly predicted responses to parasitism. We conclude that eggegg differences are the primary drivers of egg rejection in this system. Future studies should test for the effects of egg-nest contrast per se in predicting parasitic egg recognition in other host-parasite systems, including those hosts building enclosed nests and those parasites laying cryptic eggs, as an alternative to hypothesized effects of egg-egg contrast.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of egg-nest contrast in the rejection of brood parasitic eggs

Aidala

Croston

Schwartz

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…In the light of recent advances in analyzing color differences as seen by nonhuman animals (6, 7), three studies have used advanced perceptual models of avian discrimination to investigate cuckoo and host egg coloration (8)(9)(10). These confirmed that quantification of visual signals used by hosts to detect parasitism provides much greater insights when analyzed with models of bird vision than does subjective human assessment (5).…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

Visual modeling shows that avian host parents use multiple visual cues in rejecting parasitic eggs

Spottiswoode

Stevens

2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

257

355

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One of the most striking outcomes of coevolution between species is egg mimicry by brood parasitic birds, resulting from rejection behavior by discriminating host parents. Yet, how exactly does a host detect a parasitic egg? Brood parasitism and egg rejection behavior provide a model system for exploring the relative importance of different visual cues used in a behavioral task. Although hosts are discriminating, we do not know exactly what cues they use, and to answer this it is crucial to account for the receiver's visual perception. Color, luminance ("perceived lightness") and pattern information have never been simultaneously quantified and experimentally tested through a bird's eye. The cuckoo finch Anomalospiza imberbis and its hosts show spectacular polymorphisms in egg appearance, providing a good opportunity for investigating visual discrimination owing to the large range of patterns and colors involved. Here we combine field experiments in Africa with modeling of avian color vision and pattern discrimination to identify the specific visual cues used by hosts in making rejection decisions. We found that disparity between host and foreign eggs in both color and several aspects of pattern (dispersion, principal marking size, and variability in marking size) were important predictors of rejection, especially color. These cues correspond exactly to the principal differences between host and parasitic eggs, showing that hosts use the most reliable available cues in making rejection decisions, and select for parasitic eggs that are increasingly mimetic in a range of visual attributes.brood parasitism | coevolution | egg color | egg pattern | vision

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“…Rothstein, 1982;Underwood and Sealy, 2006). Cognitive mechanisms which correspond to contextdependent egg discrimination (Rothstein, 1975;Welbergen et al, 2001;Lahti and Lahti, 2002;Hauber et al, 2006;Moskát and Hauber, 2007), including the avian-specific sensory perception of egg coloration (Avilés, 2008;Cassey et al, 2008a;Cassey et al, 2008b;Safran and Vitousek, 2008;Langmore et al, 2009), seem to be key factors in explaining behavioural variability of rejection decisions in host-brood parasite co-evolution. Nonetheless, the extent to which variability in the host's flexibility of speciesrecognition systems impacts on adaptive responses to parasitism (Sherman et al, 1997;McLean and Maloney, 1998;Stokke et al, 2005;Hauber et al, 2006;Moskát and Hauber, 2007) remains to be fully understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discordancy or template-based recognition? Dissecting the cognitive basis of the rejection of foreign eggs in hosts of avian brood parasites

Moskát

Bán

Székely

et al. 2010

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYMany avian hosts have evolved antiparasite defence mechanisms, including egg rejection, to reduce the costs of brood parasitism. The two main alternative cognitive mechanisms of egg discrimination are thought to be based on the perceived discordancy of eggs in a clutch or the use of recognition templates by hosts. Our experiments reveal that the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus), a host of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), relies on both mechanisms. In support of the discordancy mechanism, hosts rejected their own eggs (13%) and manipulated ('parasitic') eggs (27%) above control levels in experiments when manipulated eggs were in the majority but when clutches also included a minority of own eggs. Hosts that had the chance to observe the manipulated eggs daily just after laying did not show stronger rejection of manipulated eggs than when the eggs were manipulated at clutch completion. When clutches contained only manipulated eggs, in 33% of the nests hosts showed rejection, also supporting a mechanism of template-based egg discrimination. Rejection using a recognition template might be more advantageous because discordancy-based egg discrimination is increasingly error prone with higher rates of multiple parasitism.

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The modelling of avian visual perception predicts behavioural rejection responses to foreign egg colours

Cited by 116 publications

References 27 publications

The role of egg-nest contrast in the rejection of brood parasitic eggs

The role of egg-nest contrast in the rejection of brood parasitic eggs

Visual modeling shows that avian host parents use multiple visual cues in rejecting parasitic eggs

Discordancy or template-based recognition? Dissecting the cognitive basis of the rejection of foreign eggs in hosts of avian brood parasites

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