The Risk of Parasitism in Relation to the Distance from Reed Warbler Nests to Cuckoo Perches

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. British Ecological Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Animal Ecology. Summary 1. The frequency of cuckoo Cuculus canorus L. parasitism of reed warblers Acrocephalus scirpaceus Hermann, was investigated in the south-eastern part of the Czech Republic in relation to the distance of the nest from the nearest tree, and to the distance of the nest from that of the nearest active conspecific neighbour. 2. We also investigated whether any differences in egg size, clutch size and laying dates existed between the reed warblers breeding at different distances from trees, and if breeding reed warblers avoided choosing nesting sites near trees. Differences in clutch size and laying date between parasitized and unparasitized birds were also investigated. 3. The frequency of parasitism was higher close to trees and far away from the nearest active neighbour. 4. Our data support the prediction that reed warblers should avoid nesting near trees. The density of breeding birds were higher further away from trees. The egg-laying dates of reed warblers breeding further away from trees were earlier. Finally, we found that reed warblers breeding further away from trees laid significantly larger eggs than birds breeding closer to trees.

Reviewing 30 years of studies on the Common Cuckoo: accumulated knowledge and future perspectives

“…Host species at early stages in this race will easily accept Cuckoo eggs and therefore establish themselves as favorable hosts contrary to those at later stages where recognition and rejection of foreign eggs are more or less genetically fixed. Second, habitat differences could be important since the Cuckoo normally uses vantage points in trees to locate host nests and observe host activity (Øien et al, 1996;Røs-kaft et al, 2002cRøs-kaft et al, , 2006Antonov et al, 2010b). Third, host population size and density including fluctuations is of crucial importance for their usefulness as Cuckoo hosts (Stokke et al, 2007a), and fourth, many aspects of the host species' life history traits might represent key factors in both utilization by Cuckoos and evolution of host defenses (e.g.…”

“…The "Spatial habitat structure hypothesis" (Røskaft et al, 2002c(Røskaft et al, , 2006) is based on the assumption that the Cuckoo and other brood parasites which are depending on finding a sufficient number of host nests, need access to suitable vantage points, usually perches in trees, from where they can observe host activities (Alvarez, 1993;Øien et al, 1996;Clotfelter, 1998). This means that hosts breeding near trees in woodland or its edges should have a high probability of being parasitized and therefore will experience a strong selection pressure for evolving defenses like Cuckoo egg rejection.…”

Cuckoos, cowbirds and hosts: adaptations, trade-offs and constraints

“…There is good evidence that the risk of being parasitized is not equal between individuals of a host population or between host populations, and neither is it equal across an individual host's lifespan (Lotem et al 1992;Brooker & Brooker 1996;Øien et al 1996;Grim 2002;Røskaft et al 2002b. For the sake of simplicity, these relationships are not considered in models or analyses of costs and benefits of parasite-host coevolution (Takasu et al 1993;Brooke et al 1998;Servedio & Lande 2003).…”

Habitat and space use of European cuckoo females during the egg laying period

“…Searching and observing nests suitable to be parasitized is a very time consuming process for cuckoo females (Wyllie, 1981;Davies & Brooke, 1988;Øien et al, 1996). If the habitat is used by females as a cue telling them where to search for appropriate host species and nests (as was proposed by Teuschl et al, 1998), we expect (a) that females show a preference for particular laying habitats, and (b) that this preference is more pronounced around egg laying.…”