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Variation in Bird Eggs-Does Female Factor, Season, and Laying Order Impact the Egg Size, Pigmentation, and Eggshell Thickness of the Eggs of Capercaillie? Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11123454. [PMID: 34944231 PMCID: PMC8697993 DOI: 10.3390/ani11123454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2021] [Revised: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite numerous studies, intra-species variation in bird eggs is still not well explained. In the presented studies, we investigated the possible sources of this variation: female factor, laying order, and season, using the following traits of Capercaillie eggs as an example: egg size and shape, eggshell lightness, and thickness. Samples were collected for three years from three Capercaillie breeding centres located in different parts of Poland, where birds are kept in conditions close to their natural habitat and have a similar diet. The obtained results showed no significant impact of laying order on egg size, shape, pigmentation, nor eggshell thickness. This indicates that the provided nutrition ensures an adequate supply of minerals for the entire laying period. Most results did not show statistically significant differences between eggs from different breeding centres, but in one breeding centre, eggshells had lighter pigmentation. We assume the observed differences may result from females' individual features or local environmental conditions. Egg traits were highly consistent for individual females, proving that visual identification can be useful in identifying the eggs of different females.
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Samaš P, Hauber ME, Honza M. A Meta-Analysis of Avian Egg Traits Cueing Egg-Rejection Defenses Against Brood Parasitism. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.703208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The capability of hosts to reject the odd egg from their nest is one of the key defenses against avian brood parasitism. Considerable research effort has been devoted to exploring which phenotypic traits of eggshells facilitate to cue the recognition of the parasitic egg. Here we have reviewed studies addressing salient egg traits involved in the rejection of foreign eggs and used a formal meta-analysis to quantify their relative importance. Hosts appear to rely to a large extent on eggshell color traits, followed by maculation patterns. Hosts respond with similar rates of egg rejection to natural vs. model eggs and when breeding in both closed and open nests. Analyses of experiments on hosts of Cuculus and Molothrus parasites, the two best studied brood parasitic lineages with different co-evolutionary histories, yield similar conclusions. We also identify several poorly studied potential egg recognition cues, such as odor or weight, and recommend exploring even the visual traits in more detail, including chromatic and achromatic contrasts or experimentally manipulated egg maculation characteristics. Recent technological and sensory ecological advances open many new research avenues to experimentally examine the role of diverse egg characteristics in antiparasite defenses.
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Liu J, Yang C, Yu J, Wang H, Møller AP, Liang W. Egg recognition and brain size in a cuckoo host. Behav Processes 2020; 180:104223. [PMID: 32841719 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Revised: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 08/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The evolution of animal brain size and cognitive ability is a topic of central significance in evolutionary ecology. Interspecific brood parasitism imposes severe selection pressures on hosts favoring the evolution of cuckoo egg recognition and rejection. However, recognizing and rejecting foreign parasitic eggs are enormous cognitive challenges for cuckoo hosts, which might select for an increase in brain size in birds with this capacity. To explore the association between cuckoo parasitism and the evolution of brain size in cinereous tits (Parus cinereus), we used two types of experimental parasitic eggs, real mimetic white-rumped munia (Lonchura striata) eggs and non-mimetic blue model eggs, to test the egg recognition ability of female cinereous tits, thereby comparing brain size variation among individuals that were able to recognize foreign eggs and those that lacked this ability. Interestingly, our results however did not support the prediction that cuckoo parasitism selects for an increase in brain size of host birds, since brain size of egg rejecters was not significantly larger than that of accepters. Hence, this study suggested that the evolution of cognitive ability did not allow recognition of foreign eggs by female cinereous tits. That was the case despite the evolution of a larger brain may have allowed for a reduction in the cost of brood parasitism by cuckoos.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianping Liu
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, 571158, China.
| | - Canchao Yang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, 571158, China.
| | - Jiangping Yu
- Jilin Engineering Laboratory for Avian Ecology and Conservation Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China.
| | - Haitao Wang
- Jilin Engineering Laboratory for Avian Ecology and Conservation Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China; Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China.
| | - Anders Pape Møller
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China; Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91405, Orsay Cedex, France.
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, 571158, China.
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Liu J, Cheng C, Liang W. Egg recognition and chick discrimination in colonial breeding birds. Behav Processes 2019; 168:103955. [PMID: 31493492 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.103955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2019] [Revised: 07/17/2019] [Accepted: 09/03/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Theory predicts that parents will not raise unrelated offsprings. For colonial breeding birds, evolving an ability to recognize their own eggs and chicks can prevent misdirecting parental behaviour. To verify this hypothesis, egg recognition experiments were performed on colonial breeding Chinese pond herons (Ardeola bacchus) and cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) in Chengmai and Lingao, tropical Hainan Island, China. Furthermore, a chick discrimination experiment was conducted on Chinese pond herons. In our study area, we did not record conspecific or interspecific brood parasitism in the two heron species. The results showed that Chinese pond herons had similar recognition rates for the four types of experimental eggs and lacked recognition ability. Cattle egrets had variable abilities to recognize different types of foreign eggs and have low egg recognition ability. Chinese pond herons cannot discriminate foreign chicks. Therefore, we suggest that the two species of colonial breeding herons may lack or have low egg recognition ability, and Chinese pond herons show no nestling recognition ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianping Liu
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China
| | - Cheng Cheng
- Hainan Forestry Research Institute, Haikou 571100, China
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China.
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Luro AB, Igic B, Croston R, López AV, Shawkey MD, Hauber ME. Which egg features predict egg rejection responses in American robins? Replicating Rothstein's (1982) study. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:1673-1679. [PMID: 29435242 PMCID: PMC5792560 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2017] [Revised: 11/30/2017] [Accepted: 12/04/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Rothstein (Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 11, 1982, 229) was one of the first comprehensive studies to examine how different egg features influence egg rejection behaviors of avian brood parasite-hosts. The methods and conclusions of Rothstein (1982) laid the foundation for subsequent experimental brood parasitism studies over the past thirty years, but its results have never been evaluated with replication. Here, we partially replicated Rothstein's (1982) experiments using parallel artificial model egg treatments to simulate cowbird (Molothrus ater) parasitism in American robin (Turdus migratorius) nests. We compared our data with those of Rothstein (1982) and confirmed most of its original findings: (1) robins reject model eggs that differ from the appearance of a natural robin egg toward that of a natural cowbird egg in background color, size, and maculation; (2) rejection responses were best predicted by model egg background color; and (3) model eggs differing by two or more features from natural robin eggs were more likely to be rejected than model eggs differing by one feature alone. In contrast with Rothstein's (1982) conclusion that American robin egg recognition is not specifically tuned toward rejection of brown-headed cowbird eggs, we argue that our results and those of other recent studies of robin egg rejection suggest a discrimination bias toward rejection of cowbird eggs. Future work on egg recognition will benefit from utilizing a range of model eggs varying continuously in background color, maculation patterning, and size in combination with avian visual modeling, rather than using model eggs which vary only discretely.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alec B. Luro
- Department of Animal BiologySchool of Integrative BiologyUniversity of IllinoisUrbana‐ChampaignILUSA
| | - Branislav Igic
- Division of Ecology & EvolutionResearch School of BiologyAustralian National UniversityCanberraACTAustralia
| | - Rebecca Croston
- U.S. Geological SurveyWestern Ecological Research CenterDixonCAUSA
| | - Analía V. López
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y EvoluciónFacultad de Ciencias Exactas y NaturalesUniversidad de Buenos AiresBuenos AiresArgentina
| | - Matthew D. Shawkey
- Department of Biology, Evolution and Optics of Nanostructures GroupUniversity of GhentGhentBelgium
| | - Mark E. Hauber
- Department of Animal BiologySchool of Integrative BiologyUniversity of IllinoisUrbana‐ChampaignILUSA
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Dainson M, Hauber ME, López AV, Grim T, Hanley D. Does contrast between eggshell ground and spot coloration affect egg rejection? Naturwissenschaften 2017. [PMID: 28642972 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-017-1476-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Obligate avian brood parasitic species impose the costs of incubating foreign eggs and raising young upon their unrelated hosts. The most common host defence is the rejection of parasitic eggs from the nest. Both egg colours and spot patterns influence egg rejection decisions in many host species, yet no studies have explicitly examined the role of variation in spot coloration. We studied the American robin Turdus migratorius, a blue-green unspotted egg-laying host of the brown-headed cowbird Molothrus ater, a brood parasite that lays non-mimetic spotted eggs. We examined host responses to model eggs with variable spot coloration against a constant robin-mimetic ground colour to identify patterns of rejection associated with perceived contrast between spot and ground colours. By using avian visual modelling, we found that robins were more likely to reject eggs whose spots had greater chromatic (hue) but not achromatic (brightness) contrast. Therefore, egg rejection decision rules in the American robin may depend on the colour contrast between parasite eggshell spot and host ground coloration. Our study also suggests that egg recognition in relation to spot coloration, like ground colour recognition, is tuned to the natural variation of avian eggshell spot colours but not to unnatural spot colours.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miri Dainson
- Department of Psychology, Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, NY, 10065, USA.
| | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Psychology, Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, NY, 10065, USA.,Department of Animal Biology, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Analía V López
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Tomáš Grim
- Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Palacký University, 77146, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Daniel Hanley
- Department of Biology, Long Island University - Post, Brookville, New York, NY, 11548, USA
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Leclaire S, Bourret V, Bonadonna F. Blue petrels recognize the odor of their egg. J Exp Biol 2017; 220:3022-3025. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.163899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2017] [Accepted: 06/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Most studies on avian olfactory communication have focused on mate choice, and the importance of olfaction in subsequent nesting stages has been poorly explored. In particular, the role of olfactory cues in egg recognition has received little attention, despite eggs potentially being spread with parental odorous secretions known to elicit individual discrimination. Here we used behavioral choice tests to determine whether female blue petrels (Halobaena caerulea) can discriminate the odor of their own egg from the odor of a conspecific egg. Females preferentially approached the odor of their own egg, suggesting that blue petrels can recognize their own egg using odor cues. This finding raises the question of the adaptive value of this mechanism, and may inspire further research on odor-based egg discrimination in species suffering brood parasitism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Leclaire
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, UMR 5175, 1919 rte de Mende, Montpellier, France
- Laboratoire Evolution & Diversité Biologique, CNRS UMR 5174, 118 rte de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse, France
| | - Vincent Bourret
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, UMR 5175, 1919 rte de Mende, Montpellier, France
| | - Francesco Bonadonna
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, UMR 5175, 1919 rte de Mende, Montpellier, France
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Liang W, Møller AP, Stokke BG, Yang C, Kovařík P, Wang H, Yao CT, Ding P, Lu X, Moksnes A, Røskaft E, Grim T. Geographic variation in egg ejection rate by great tits across 2 continents. Behav Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arw061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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9
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Šulc M, Procházka P, Capek M, Honza M. Birds use eggshell UV reflectance when recognizing non-mimetic parasitic eggs. Behav Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arv206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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10
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Baran NM, Reeve HK. Coevolution of Parental Care, Parasitic, and Resistance Efforts in Facultative Parasitism. Am Nat 2015; 186:594-609. [DOI: 10.1086/683227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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11
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Neal JAF, Rolland V. A Potential Case of Brood Parasitism by Eastern Bluebirds on House Sparrows. SOUTHEAST NAT 2015. [DOI: 10.1656/058.014.0201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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12
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Yang C, Hu Y, Ma M, Liang W, Møller AP. Absence of egg rejection in an Asian population of house sparrow (Passer domesticus), a conspecific brood parasite in Europe. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-015-1886-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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13
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Affiliation(s)
- David C. Lahti
- Department of Biology; Queens College; City University of New York; New York; NY; USA
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14
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Aidala Z, Croston R, Schwartz J, Tong L, Hauber ME. The role of egg-nest contrast in the rejection of brood parasitic eggs. J Exp Biol 2015; 218:1126-36. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.108449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2014] [Accepted: 01/13/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
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 own and foreign eggs. Most models 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, in 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 egg-egg 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 parasites laying cryptic eggs, as an alternative to hypothesized effects of egg-egg contrasts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary Aidala
- City University of New York; Bloomfield College, United States
| | - Rebecca Croston
- City University of New York; University of Nevada - Reno, United States
| | | | | | - Mark E. Hauber
- City University of New York; Bloomfield College, United States
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Samas P, Hauber ME, Cassey P, Grim T. Host responses to interspecific brood parasitism: a by-product of adaptations to conspecific parasitism? Front Zool 2014; 11:34. [PMID: 24834103 PMCID: PMC4022367 DOI: 10.1186/1742-9994-11-34] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2013] [Accepted: 04/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Why have birds evolved the ability to reject eggs? Typically, foreign egg discrimination is interpreted as evidence that interspecific brood parasitism (IP) has selected for the host’s ability to recognize and eliminate foreign eggs. Fewer studies explore the alternative hypothesis that rejection of interspecific eggs is a by-product of host defenses, evolved against conspecific parasitism (CP). We performed a large scale study with replication across taxa (two congeneric Turdus thrushes), space (populations), time (breeding seasons), and treatments (three types of experimental eggs), using a consistent design of egg rejection experiments (n = 1057 nests; including controls), in areas with potential IP either present (Europe; native populations) or absent (New Zealand; introduced populations). These comparisons benefited from the known length of allopatry (one and a half centuries), with no gene flow between native and introduced populations, which is rarely available in host-parasite systems. Results Hosts rejected CP at unusually high rates for passerines (up to 60%). CP rejection rates were higher in populations with higher conspecific breeding densities and no risks of IP, supporting the CP hypothesis. IP rejection rates did not covary geographically with IP risk, contradicting the IP hypothesis. High egg rejection rates were maintained in the relatively long-term isolation from IP despite non-trivial rejection costs and errors. Conclusions These egg rejection patterns, combined with recent findings that these thrushes are currently unsuitable hosts of the obligate parasitic common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), are in agreement with the hypothesis that the rejection of IP is a by-product of fine-tuned egg discrimination evolved due to CP. Our study highlights the importance of considering both IP and CP simultaneously as potential drivers in the evolution of egg discrimination, and illustrates how populations introduced to novel ecological contexts can provide critical insights into brood parasite-host coevolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Samas
- Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Palacký University, 17. listopadu 50, CZ-771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Psychology, Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Phillip Cassey
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Tomas Grim
- Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Palacký University, 17. listopadu 50, CZ-771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic
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Croston R, Hauber ME. Spectral tuning and perceptual differences do not explain the rejection of brood parasitic eggs by American robins (Turdus migratorius). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-013-1649-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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17
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Poláček M, Griggio M, Bartíková M, Hoi H. Nest sanitation as the evolutionary background for egg ejection behaviour and the role of motivation for object removal. PLoS One 2013; 8:e78771. [PMID: 24223165 PMCID: PMC3819373 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2013] [Accepted: 09/13/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Higher interclutch colour variation can evolve under the pressure of brood parasitism to increase the detection of parasitic eggs. Nest sanitation could be a prerequisite for the evolution of anti-parasite defence in terms of egg ejection. In this respect, we used nest sanitation behaviour as a tool to identify: i) motivation and its underlying function and, ii) which features provoke ejection behaviour. Therefore, we experimentally tested whether size, colour or shape may influence ejection behaviour using artificial flat objects. We found a high interclutch variation in egg colouration and egg size in our tree sparrow (Passer montanus) population. Using colour and size we were in fact able to predict clutch affiliation for each egg. Our experiments further revealed the existence of direct anti-parasite behaviours and birds are able to recognise conspecific eggs, since only experimentally-deposited eggs have been removed. Moreover, experiments with different objects revealed that the motivation of tree sparrows to remove experimental objects from their nests was highest during egg laying for objects of varying size, most likely because of parasitism risk at this breeding stage. In contrary, motivation to remove white objects and objects with edges was higher during incubation stage as behavioural patterns connected to hatching started to emerge. The fact that rejection rate of our flat objects was higher than real egg ejection, suggests that egg ejection in tree sparrows and probably more general in small passerines, to be limited by elevated costs to eject eggs with their beaks. The presence of anti-parasite behaviour supports our suggestion that brood parasitism causes variation in egg features, as we have found that tree sparrows can recognise and reject conspecific eggs in their clutch. In conclusion, in tree sparrows it seems that nest sanitation plays a key role in the evolution of the removal of parasitic eggs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miroslav Poláček
- Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
- Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Matteo Griggio
- Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Michaela Bartíková
- Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
- Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Herbert Hoi
- Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
- * E-mail:
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Soler M, Ruiz-Castellano C, Carra LG, Ontanilla J, Martín-Galvez D. Do first-time breeding females imprint on their own eggs? Proc Biol Sci 2012; 280:20122518. [PMID: 23235707 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.2518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The egg-recognition processes underlying egg rejection are assumed to be based on an imprinting-like process (a female learning the aspect of her own eggs during her first breeding attempt). The imprinting-like process and the misimprinting costs have been the objective of many theoretical models and frequently have a leading role in papers published on brood parasitism; however, an experiment has never been undertaken to test the existence of this imprinting-like process by manipulating egg appearance in first-time breeding females. Here, we present the first such experimental study using the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), which is a conspecific brood parasite and which has a good ability to reject conspecific eggs, as a model species. We found that contrary to what the hypothesis predicts first-time breeding females did not reject their own eggs in their second breeding attempt. This lack of response against unmanipulated eggs could indicate that females have an innate preference for their own eggs. However, in a second experimental group in which first-time breeding females were allowed to learn the aspect of their (unmanipulated) own eggs, none ejected manipulated eggs during their second clutch either--a finding that does not support the idea of recognition templates being inherited, but instead suggests that recognition templates could be acquired again at each new breeding attempt. Our results demonstrate that it is likely that egg discrimination is not influenced by egg appearance in the first breeding attempt.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Soler
- Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada 18071, Spain.
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Hanley D, Cassey P, Doucet SM. Parents, predators, parasites, and the evolution of eggshell colour in open nesting birds. Evol Ecol 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-012-9619-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Honza M, Procházka P, Požgayová M. Do weather conditions affect the colouration of great reed warblerAcrocephalus arundinaceuseggs? FOLIA ZOOLOGICA 2012. [DOI: 10.25225/fozo.v61.i3.a5.2012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marcel Honza
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Procházka
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Milica Požgayová
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
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21
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References. Mol Ecol 2012. [DOI: 10.1002/9780470979365.refs] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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22
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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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23
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Hauber ME, Geltsch N, Moskát C, Zölei A. Asymmetrical signal content of egg shape as predictor of egg rejection by great reed warblers, hosts of the common cuckoo. BEHAVIOUR 2012. [DOI: 10.1163/156853912x638445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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24
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Soler M, Ruiz-Castellano C, Fernández-Pinos MDC, Rösler A, Ontanilla J, Pérez-Contreras T. House sparrows selectively eject parasitic conspecific eggs and incur very low rejection costs. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-011-1209-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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25
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Samaš P, Hauber ME, Cassey P, Grim T. Repeatability of Foreign Egg Rejection: Testing the Assumptions of Co-Evolutionary Theory. Ethology 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2011.01917.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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26
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Bán M, Barta Z, Muñoz AR, Takasu F, Nakamura H, Moskát C. The analysis of common cuckoo's egg shape in relation to its hosts' in two geographically distant areas. J Zool (1987) 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00795.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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CHERRY MICHAELI, GOSLER ANDREWG. Avian eggshell coloration: new perspectives on adaptive explanations. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01457.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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