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Crudele I, Hauber ME, Reboreda JC, Fiorini VD. Gradual changes in model shape affect egg-directed behaviours by parasitic shiny cowbirds Molothrus bonariensis in captivity. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:221477. [PMID: 37181795 PMCID: PMC10170346 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.221477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Eggs are critically important for avian reproduction as all birds are oviparous. Accordingly, the recognition and care of own eggs represent the cornerstones of avian breeding, whereas the elimination of foreign objects, including brood-parasitic eggs and non-egg items from the nest are known to also increase fitness by refocusing incubation effort on the parents' own eggs. But egg recognition also plays a role in some avian obligate brood parasites' reproductive strategy through the pecking of already present eggs in the hosts' clutch to reduce nestmate competition with the parasite's own hatchling. Here we tested egg shape recognition in this parasitic egg-pecking context by exposing two different series of 3D printed models to captive obligate brood-parasitic shiny cowbirds (Molothrus bonariensis) in artificial nests. Natural egg-shaped models were pecked more often compared with increasingly thinner models, but there was no effect of increasing angularity on pecking rates, implying that a natural, rather than an artificial, range of variability elicited adaptive responses from parasitic cowbirds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio Crudele
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución and IEGEBA-UBA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón II Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina
| | - Mark E. Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA
| | - Juan C. Reboreda
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución and IEGEBA-UBA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón II Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina
| | - Vanina D. Fiorini
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución and IEGEBA-UBA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón II Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina
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Wang L, Zhao H, Luo H, He G, Yan H, Liang W. Importance of cooperation: How host nest defenses effectively prevent brood parasitism from the cuckoos. iScience 2023; 26:106458. [PMID: 37063465 PMCID: PMC10090214 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Revised: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
As the frontline defense against avian brood parasitism, nest defense is important in reducing nest parasitism and increasing host fitness. However, systematic studies on its effectiveness (i.e., on whether it successfully prevents cuckoo parasitism) are scarce. Based on 214 video recordings from 10 years of field observations, we evaluated the effectiveness of nest defenses of the Oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis) in deterring common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) parasitism. Under a breeding pair situation (≤ 2 hosts individuals), warblers were hardly effective in resisting the egg-laying of the cuckoo and many of the cuckoos under attack were able to complete the parasitic process without being harmed. However, when hosts ≥ 3 individuals, the warblers could effectively thwart the cuckoos and cause lethal damage to the cuckoo in partial cases. This indicated that the host group effectively resisted the cuckoo, demonstrating the importance of cooperation among host neighbors in resisting cuckoo parasitism.
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Forbes S, Glassey B, Wiebe M. Asymmetric sibling rivalry extends to hosts and brood parasites. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03137-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Crudele I, Reboreda JC, Fiorini VD. Preferential Begging Responses of Shiny Cowbirds to the Conspecific Chatter Call. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.725051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Avian brood parasites lay their eggs into the nests of other species, which incubate them and raise the chicks until their independence. Despite living their early weeks of life surrounded by heterospecifics, young brood parasites have the ability to recognize and associate to conspecifics after independence. It has been proposed that the initial conspecific recognition develops when a young parasite encounters a unique species-specific signal that triggers the learning of other aspects of the producer of the signal. For cowbirds (Molothrus spp.), this species-specific signal is hypothesized to be the chatter call. Young birds also could express auditory biases, which in some cases lead to discrimination in favor of conspecific songs. Therefore, the perceptual selectivity for chatters might be also present in nestlings. Our aim was to assess if nestlings of the shiny cowbird (M. bonariensis) present a preferential begging response to conspecific chatter calls. We evaluated if they respond more to the parasitic vocalization than host chicks and if they respond more to the chatter than to heterospecific nonhost calls. We tested shiny cowbird chicks reared by chalk-browed mockingbirds (Mimus saturninus) or house wrens (Troglodytes aedon) and host chicks, as control species. We randomly presented to 6-day-old chicks the following playback treatments: (1) conspecific chatter calls, (2) host calls, used as positive controls, and (3) nonhost calls, used as negative control. We measured if chicks begged during the playback treatments and the begging intensity. When responding to the playback of chatter calls, shiny cowbird chicks begged at a higher frequency and more intensively than host chicks. Shiny cowbird chicks reared by mockingbirds begged more intensively to playbacks of conspecific chatter calls than to host calls, while those reared by wrens begged with a similar intensity to playbacks of conspecific chatter and host calls. On the contrary, wren nestlings begged more intensively to playbacks of the wren call than to chatter calls. Mockingbird nestlings did not beg during any treatment. None of the three species begged during the playback of nonhost calls. Our results show that the chatter call produced a preferential begging response in cowbird nestlings, which may be the beginning of a process of conspecific recognition.
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White DJ. Avian Egg Timers: Female Cowbirds Judge Past, Present, and Future When Making Nest Parasitism Decisions. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Hanley D, López AV, Fiorini VD, Reboreda JC, Grim T, Hauber ME. Variation in multicomponent recognition cues alters egg rejection decisions: a test of the optimal acceptance threshold hypothesis. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 374:20180195. [PMID: 30967077 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The optimal acceptance threshold hypothesis provides a general predictive framework for testing behavioural responses to discrimination challenges. Decision-makers should respond to a stimulus when the perceived difference between that stimulus and a comparison template surpasses an acceptance threshold. We tested how individual components of a relevant recognition cue (experimental eggs) contributed to behavioural responses of chalk-browed mockingbirds, Mimus saturninus, a frequent host of the parasitic shiny cowbird, Molothrus bonariensis. To do this, we recorded responses to eggs that varied with respect to two components: colour, ranging from bluer to browner than the hosts' own eggs, and spotting, either spotted like their own or unspotted. Although tests of this hypothesis typically assume that decisions are based on perceived colour dissimilarity between own and foreign eggs, we found that decisions were biased toward rejecting browner eggs. However, as predicted, hosts tolerated spotted eggs more than unspotted eggs, irrespective of colour. These results uncover how a single component of a multicomponent cue can shift a host's discrimination threshold and illustrate how the optimal acceptance threshold hypothesis can be used as a framework to quantify the direction and amount of the shift (in avian perceptual units) of the response curve across relevant phenotypic ranges. This article is part of the theme issue 'The coevolutionary biology of brood parasitism: from mechanism to pattern'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Hanley
- 1 Department of Biology, Long Island University - Post , Brookville, NY 11548 , USA
| | - Analía V López
- 2 Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires , C1428EGA Buenos Aires , Argentina
| | - Vanina D Fiorini
- 2 Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires , C1428EGA Buenos Aires , Argentina.,3 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires (IEGEBA-CONICET), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires , C1428EGA Buenos Aires , Argentina
| | - Juan C Reboreda
- 2 Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires , C1428EGA Buenos Aires , Argentina.,3 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires (IEGEBA-CONICET), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires , C1428EGA Buenos Aires , Argentina
| | - Tomáš Grim
- 4 Department of Zoology, Laboratory of Ornithology, Palacký University , Olomouc 77146 , Czech Republic
| | - Mark E Hauber
- 5 Department of Animal Biology, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801 , USA
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Egg pecking and puncturing behaviors in shiny and screaming cowbirds: effects of eggshell strength and degree of clutch completion. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-017-2289-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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De Mársico MC, Ursino CA, Reboreda JC. Experimental evidence for an antipredatory function of egg rejection behaviour in a common host of the brood-parasitic shiny cowbird. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-016-2174-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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11
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Šulc M, Procházka P, Capek M, Honza M. Common cuckoo females are not choosy when removing an egg during parasitism. Behav Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arw085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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Astié AA, Scardamaglia RC, Muzio RN, Reboreda JC. Sex differences in retention after a visual or a spatial discrimination learning task in brood parasitic shiny cowbirds. Behav Processes 2015; 119:99-104. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2015.07.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2015] [Revised: 07/31/2015] [Accepted: 07/31/2015] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
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Gloag R, Fiorini VD, Reboreda JC, Kacelnik A. The wages of violence: mobbing by mockingbirds as a frontline defence against brood-parasitic cowbirds. Anim Behav 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.09.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Soler M, Pérez-Contreras T. Location of suitable nests by great spotted cuckoos: an empirical and experimental study. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-012-1385-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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de la Colina MA, Pompilio L, Hauber ME, Reboreda JC, Mahler B. Different recognition cues reveal the decision rules used for egg rejection by hosts of a variably mimetic avian brood parasite. Anim Cogn 2012; 15:881-9. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-012-0515-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2011] [Revised: 05/03/2012] [Accepted: 05/04/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Tuero DT, Fiorini VD, Reboreda JC. Do shiny cowbird females adjust egg pecking behavior according to the level of competition their chicks face in host nests? Behav Processes 2012; 89:137-42. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2011.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2011] [Revised: 10/18/2011] [Accepted: 10/19/2011] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
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DE LA COLINA MALICIA, MAHLER BETTINA, REBOREDA JUANCARLOS. Differences in morphology and colour pattern of shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) eggs found in nests of two hosts. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2011.01605.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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De Mársico MC, Mahler B, Chomnalez M, Di Giácomo AG, Reboreda JC. Host Use by Generalist and Specialist Brood-Parasitic Cowbirds at Population and Individual Levels. ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/s0065-3454(10)42003-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
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Fiorini VD, Tuero DT, Reboreda JC. Shiny cowbirds synchronize parasitism with host laying and puncture host eggs according to host characteristics. Anim Behav 2009. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.11.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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De Mársico MC, Reboreda JC. Differential reproductive success favours strong host preference in a highly specialized brood parasite. Proc Biol Sci 2008; 275:2499-506. [PMID: 18647716 PMCID: PMC2603199 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Obligate avian brood parasites show dramatic variation in the degree to which they are host specialists or host generalists. The screaming cowbird Molothrus rufoaxillaris is one of the most specialized brood parasites, using a single host, the bay-winged cowbird (Agelaioides badius) over most of its range. Coevolutionary theory predicts increasing host specificity the longer the parasite interacts with a particular avian community, as hosts evolve defences that the parasite cannot counteract. According to this view, host specificity can be maintained if screaming cowbirds avoid parasitizing potentially suitable hosts that have developed effective defences against parasitic females or eggs. Specialization may also be favoured, even in the absence of host defences, if the parasite's reproductive success in alternative hosts is lower than that in the main host. We experimentally tested these hypotheses using as alternative hosts two suitable but unparasitized species: house wrens (Troglodytes aedon) and chalk-browed mockingbirds (Mimus saturninus). We assessed host defences against parasitic females and eggs, and reproductive success of the parasite in current and alternative hosts. Alternative hosts did not discriminate against screaming cowbird females or eggs. Egg survival and hatching success were similarly high in current and alternative hosts, but the survival of parasitic chicks was significantly lower in alternative hosts. Our results indicate that screaming cowbirds have the potential to colonize novel hosts, but higher reproductive success in the current host may favour host fidelity.
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Affiliation(s)
- María C De Mársico
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón II Ciudad Universitaria, C1428EGA Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Mahler B, Confalonieri VA, Lovette IJ, Reboreda JC. Partial host fidelity in nest selection by the shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis), a highly generalist avian brood parasite. J Evol Biol 2007; 20:1918-23. [PMID: 17714308 DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2007.01373.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Obligate avian brood parasites can be host specialists or host generalists. In turn, individual females within generalist brood parasites may themselves be host specialists or generalists. The shiny cowbird Molothrus bonariensis is an extreme generalist, but little is known about individual female host fidelity. We examined variation in mitochondrial control region sequences from cowbird chicks found in nests of four common Argentinean hosts. Haplotype frequency distributions differed among cowbird chicks from nests of these hosts, primarily because eggs laid in nests of house wrens Troglodytes aedon differed genetically from those laid in nests of the other three hosts (chalk-browed mockingbird Mimus saturninus, brown-and-yellow marshbird Pseudoleistes virescens, and rufous-collared sparrow Zonotrichia capensis). These differences in a maternally inherited marker indicate the presence of a nonrandom laying behaviour in the females of this otherwise generalist brood parasite, which may be guided by choice for nest type, as house wrens nest in cavities whereas the other three species are open cup nesters.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Mahler
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón II Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Parejo D, Avilés JM. Do avian brood parasites eavesdrop on heterospecific sexual signals revealing host quality? A review of the evidence. Anim Cogn 2006; 10:81-8. [PMID: 17180699 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-006-0055-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2006] [Revised: 10/27/2006] [Accepted: 10/31/2006] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Eavesdropping can be defined as the extraction of information from the interactions between other individuals. It provides a relatively cheap way of gathering relevant information for fitness enhancement. Here, we propose that obligate avian brood parasites, which always lay their eggs in foreign nests of individuals of other species, may eavesdrop on their host sexual signals to locate nests of high quality individuals in which to lay their parasitic eggs. Sexual signal variation can honestly signal parental quality. Thus, by eavesdropping on sexual signals, parasites may select high quality foster parents for their own offspring. Such a use of sexual signals within host populations by brood parasites differs from signal exploitation theory that proposes that parasite only use signals to locate potential host independently from signaller quality. Here, we review the avian literature concerning host choice within a host species by obligate avian brood parasites and find evidence for host selection within individuals of a host species on the basis of cues potentially functioning as sexually selected traits, or at least revealing parental abilities. We have also found support for the existence of benefits linked to host selection by avian brood parasites. Finally, one study reported on the attenuation of a sexual ornament in host populations under strong pressure by brood parasites. Most of these findings have been interpreted as evidence for host selection by avian brood parasites based on the conspicuousness of sexual signals. We suggest, however, that these findings may in fact reveal eavesdropping on host signalling performance by brood parasites which would use the information extracted to choose the better individuals among conspecifics of a given host. This provides a new perspective for the study of host selection in obligate brood parasites, and raises interesting questions for the study of animal cognition that would deserve experimental studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deseada Parejo
- Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Estación Experimental de Zonas Aridas, C.S.I.C. C/General Segura 1, 04001, Almería, Spain.
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