Seasonal increase in nest defense, but not egg rejection, in a cuckoo host
The interactions between avian brood parasites and their hosts provide an informative and easy-to-handle system for studying coevolution. Avian brood parasitism reduces the reproductive success of hosts, and thus, hosts have evolved anti-parasitic strategies, such as rejecting parasitic eggs and ado...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Avian Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716623000804 |
| _version_ | 1826946402437038080 |
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| author | Bo Zhou Wei Liang |
| author_facet | Bo Zhou Wei Liang |
| author_sort | Bo Zhou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The interactions between avian brood parasites and their hosts provide an informative and easy-to-handle system for studying coevolution. Avian brood parasitism reduces the reproductive success of hosts, and thus, hosts have evolved anti-parasitic strategies, such as rejecting parasitic eggs and adopting aggressive nest defense strategies, to avoid the cost brought on by brood parasitism. To test whether host anti-parasitic strategies are adjusted with the risk of being parasitized when the breeding seasons of brood parasites and hosts are not synchronous, we conducted a field experiment assessing nest defense and egg recognition behaviors of the Isabelline Shrike (Lanius isabellinus), a host of the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). In the local area, the host Isabelline Shrike begins to breed in April, whereas the summer migratory Common Cuckoo migrates to the local area in May and begins to lay parasitic eggs. Results showed that nest defense behaviors of the Isabelline Shrike increases significantly after cuckoo arrival, showing higher aggressiveness to cuckoo dummies, with no significant difference in attack rates among cuckoo, sparrowhawk and dove dummies, but their egg rejection did not change significantly. These results imply that Isabelline Shrikes may adjust their nest defense behavior, but not egg rejection behavior, with seasonality. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T16:51:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5c7f1efd9e20407a8bae713061b0e326 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2053-7166 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-17T21:11:55Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Avian Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-5c7f1efd9e20407a8bae713061b0e3262024-12-08T06:09:24ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Avian Research2053-71662024-01-0115100154Seasonal increase in nest defense, but not egg rejection, in a cuckoo hostBo Zhou0Wei Liang1Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China; Institute of Biological Resources, Jiangxi Academy of Science, Nanchang 330096, ChinaMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China; Corresponding author.The interactions between avian brood parasites and their hosts provide an informative and easy-to-handle system for studying coevolution. Avian brood parasitism reduces the reproductive success of hosts, and thus, hosts have evolved anti-parasitic strategies, such as rejecting parasitic eggs and adopting aggressive nest defense strategies, to avoid the cost brought on by brood parasitism. To test whether host anti-parasitic strategies are adjusted with the risk of being parasitized when the breeding seasons of brood parasites and hosts are not synchronous, we conducted a field experiment assessing nest defense and egg recognition behaviors of the Isabelline Shrike (Lanius isabellinus), a host of the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). In the local area, the host Isabelline Shrike begins to breed in April, whereas the summer migratory Common Cuckoo migrates to the local area in May and begins to lay parasitic eggs. Results showed that nest defense behaviors of the Isabelline Shrike increases significantly after cuckoo arrival, showing higher aggressiveness to cuckoo dummies, with no significant difference in attack rates among cuckoo, sparrowhawk and dove dummies, but their egg rejection did not change significantly. These results imply that Isabelline Shrikes may adjust their nest defense behavior, but not egg rejection behavior, with seasonality.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716623000804AggressionAnti-parasite strategyEgg rejectionMismatch cuckoo parasitismNest defense |
| spellingShingle | Bo Zhou Wei Liang Seasonal increase in nest defense, but not egg rejection, in a cuckoo host Avian Research Aggression Anti-parasite strategy Egg rejection Mismatch cuckoo parasitism Nest defense |
| title | Seasonal increase in nest defense, but not egg rejection, in a cuckoo host |
| title_full | Seasonal increase in nest defense, but not egg rejection, in a cuckoo host |
| title_fullStr | Seasonal increase in nest defense, but not egg rejection, in a cuckoo host |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seasonal increase in nest defense, but not egg rejection, in a cuckoo host |
| title_short | Seasonal increase in nest defense, but not egg rejection, in a cuckoo host |
| title_sort | seasonal increase in nest defense but not egg rejection in a cuckoo host |
| topic | Aggression Anti-parasite strategy Egg rejection Mismatch cuckoo parasitism Nest defense |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716623000804 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bozhou seasonalincreaseinnestdefensebutnoteggrejectioninacuckoohost AT weiliang seasonalincreaseinnestdefensebutnoteggrejectioninacuckoohost |