1
|
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.
Collapse
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
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Honza M, Koleček J, Piálek L, Piálková R, Požgayová M, Procházka P, Štětková G, Jelínek V, Hughes AE, Šulc M. Multiple parasitism in an evictor brood parasite: patterns revealed by long-term monitoring, continuous video recording, and genetic analyses. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03270-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
|
3
|
Zimmermann H, Blažek R, Polačik M, Reichard M. Individual experience as a key to success for the cuckoo catfish brood parasitism. Nat Commun 2022; 13:1723. [PMID: 35361775 PMCID: PMC8971504 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29417-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Brood parasites are involved in coevolutionary arms races with their hosts, whereby adaptations of one partner elicit the rapid evolution of counter-adaptations in the other partner. Hosts can also mitigate fitness costs of brood parasitism by learning from individual or social experience. In brood parasites, however, the role of learning can be obscured by their stealthy behaviour. Cuckoo catfish (Synodontis multipunctatus) parasitise clutches of mouthbrooding cichlids in Lake Tanganyika and are the only non-avian obligate brood parasites among vertebrates. We experimentally demonstrate that cuckoo catfish greatly enhance their efficiency in parasitising their hosts as they learn to overcome host defences. With increasing experience, cuckoo catfish increased their parasitism success by greater efficiency through improved timing and coordination of intrusions of host spawnings. Hence, within the coevolutionary arms races, brood parasites learn to overcome host defences during their lifetime. The importance of learning for brood parasites is explored using cuckoo catfish. The catfish increase their parasitism success as they gain experience, mainly by improving their social coordination and timing of intrusions to cichlid host spawnings.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Holger Zimmermann
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Radim Blažek
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, Brno, Czech Republic.,Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Kotlářská 2, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Matej Polačik
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Reichard
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, Brno, Czech Republic. .,Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Kotlářská 2, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. .,Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology, University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Blažek R, Polačik M, Reichard M. Group intrusions by a brood parasitic fish are not cooperative. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Brood parasites relegate all parental duties to unrelated hosts. Host resistance against brood parasitism is most effective during egg laying and is best countered by surreptitious oviposition. This may be aided through distraction of host attention by the male partner or a larger cooperative group. Cuckoo catfish (Synodontis multipunctatus) parasitize the broods of mouthbrooding cichlids, which collect their eggs immediately after oviposition. Cuckoo catfish must time their intrusion precisely, as the temporal window for parasitism lasts only a few seconds. As the cuckoo catfish typically intrude host spawning as a group, we tested whether groups of catfish distract spawning cichlid pairs more successfully than a single catfish pair. We found that larger catfish groups were not more effective in parasitism, as parasitism success by groups of three catfish pairs increased only proportionally to single catfish pairs. The number of cichlid eggs in host clutches decreased at high catfish abundance, apparently due to elevated cuckoo catfish predation on the eggs. Hence, group intrusions do not represent cooperative actions, but incur an increased cost to the host cichlid from greater egg predation by cuckoo catfish.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Radim Blažek
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Matěj Polačik
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Reichard
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Łódź, Banacha 12/16, 90-237 Łódź, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
López AV, Bolmaro RE, Ávalos M, Gerschenson LN, Reboreda JC, Fiorini VD, Tartalini V, Risso P, Hauber ME. How to build a puncture- and breakage-resistant eggshell? Mechanical and structural analyses of avian brood parasites and their hosts. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:272027. [PMID: 34318898 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 07/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Evolved eggshell strength is greater in several lineages of obligate avian brood parasites (birds that lay their eggs in other species' nests) than in their hosts. Greater strength is typically indirectly implied by eggshell thickness comparisons between parasites and hosts. Nevertheless, there is strong evidence that the eggshell structural organization differentially influences its mechanical properties. Using instrumental puncture tests and SEM/EBSD and XRD techniques, we studied the most relevant eggshell mechanical, textural, ultrastructural and microstructural features between several host species and their parasitic cowbirds (Molothrus spp.). These parasitic species display different egg-destructive behaviors, reducing host reproductive fitness, including the more frequently host-egg puncturing M. rufoaxillaris and M. bonariensis, and the host egg-removing M. ater. The results, analyzed using a phylogenetic comparative approach, showed interspecific patterns in the mechanical and structural features. Overall, the eggshells of the two egg-puncturing parasites (but not of M. ater) were stronger, stiffer and required greater stress to produce a fracture than the respective hosts' eggs. These features were affected by eggshell microstructure and ultrastructure, related to the increase in the intercrystalline boundary network acting in cooperation with the increase in palisade layer thickness. Both structural features generate more options and greater lengths of intercrystalline paths, increasing the energy consumed in crack or fissure propagation. The reported patterns of all these diverse eggshell features support a new set of interpretations, confirming several hypotheses regarding the impact of the two reproductive strategies (parasitic versus parental) and parasitic egg destruction behaviors (more versus less frequently puncturing).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Analía V López
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina
| | - Raúl E Bolmaro
- Instituto de Física Rosario, CONICET-UNR, Rosario, Prov. de Santa Fe S2000EKF, Argentina
| | - Martina Ávalos
- Instituto de Física Rosario, CONICET-UNR, Rosario, Prov. de Santa Fe S2000EKF, Argentina.,Centro Científico Tecnológico, Laboratorio de Microscopía Electrónica de Barrido, Rosario, Prov. de Santa Fe S2000EKF, Argentina
| | - Lía N Gerschenson
- Departamento de Industrias, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina
| | - Juan C Reboreda
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina.,Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (IEGEBA-CONICET), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1428EG, Argentina
| | - Vanina D Fiorini
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina.,Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (IEGEBA-CONICET), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1428EG, Argentina
| | - Vanina Tartalini
- Centro Científico Tecnológico, Laboratorio de Microscopía Electrónica de Barrido, Rosario, Prov. de Santa Fe S2000EKF, Argentina
| | - Pablo Risso
- Centro Científico Tecnológico, Laboratorio de Microscopía Electrónica de Barrido, Rosario, Prov. de Santa Fe S2000EKF, Argentina
| | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Decision-making at the time of parasitism: cowbirds prefer to peck eggs with weaker shells. Anim Cogn 2021; 25:275-285. [PMID: 34405287 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01549-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2021] [Revised: 08/05/2021] [Accepted: 08/10/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Interspecific avian brood parasites, like cuckoos and cowbirds, lay their eggs in nests of other species, the hosts, which take over the entire parental care of the parasite's eggs and chicks. This breeding strategy requires decisions that may affect the parasite's reproductive success. During the breeding season, cowbirds search for host nests and revisit them to monitor its progress and parasitize at the time host laying begins. When visiting hosts nests, they repeatedly peck the nest contents trying to destroy one or more eggs. This behaviour favours parasite's offspring by reducing the competition for food with nestmates. We evaluated if the egg-pecking behaviour of female shiny (Molothrus bonariensis) and screaming (M. rufoaxillaris) cowbirds is affected by the strength and the size of the eggs they find in the nest. We presented to wild-caught females artificial clutches with two natural eggs that differ in size and shell strength. We found that female shiny and screaming cowbirds adjusted egg-pecking behaviour based on the strength but not on the size of the eggs. When differences in strength between eggs were high, both cowbird species pecked more frequently the egg with the weaker shell, increasing the probability of a successful puncture. Our results indicate that female cowbirds can discriminate eggs through the strength of the shell, and by choosing the weaker egg to peck, they increase the probability of puncturing.
Collapse
|
7
|
Marton A. Quintuple parasitism of a great reed warbler nest by common cuckoos. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:8420-8423. [PMID: 34257907 PMCID: PMC8258190 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Revised: 04/24/2021] [Accepted: 04/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Multiple parasitism in obligate avian brood parasites occurs when several brood parasitic females lay their eggs in the nest of the same host. While multiple parasitism is common in the highly social, nonevicting cowbird species (Molothrus sp.), in which multiple parasitic nestlings can be raised simultaneously by the same hosts, it is less common in the case of cuckoo species (Cuculus sp.). The first cuckoo nestling to hatch from the egg evicts all nestmates; therefore, it is costly for cuckoo females to lay eggs in already parasitized nests. However, this can occur in sites with very high parasitism rates, and it can even increase the breeding success of the brood parasites, as the presence of multiple parasitic eggs in the nest of the host decreases rejection rates. Here, we present a case of a quintuple brood parasitism of a great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) nest, an extreme form of multiple brood parasitism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Attila Marton
- Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human BiologyUniversity of DebrecenDebrecenHungary
- Juhász‐Nagy Pál Doctoral SchoolUniversity of DebrecenDebrecenHungary
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Sex differences in learning flexibility in an avian brood parasite, the shiny cowbird. Behav Processes 2021; 189:104438. [PMID: 34087347 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2021] [Revised: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Females of brood parasitic shiny cowbirds, Molothrus bonariensis, search and prospect host nests, synchronizing parasitism with host laying. This behavior is sex-specific, as females perform this task without male's assistance. Host nests must be removed from the female's memory "library" after being parasitized, to avoid repeated parasitism, or when they become unavailable because of predation. Thus, females must adjust their stored information about host nest status more dynamically than males, possibly leading to differences in learning flexibility. We tested for sex differences in a visual (local cues) and a spatial discrimination reversal learning task, expecting females to outperform males as an expression of greater behavioral flexibility. Both sexes learned faster the spatial than the visual task during both acquisition and reversal. In the visual task there were no sex differences in acquisition, but females reversed faster than males. In the spatial task there were no sex differences during either acquisition or reversal, possibly because of a ceiling effect: both sexes learned too fast for differences in performance to be detectable. Faster female reversal in a visual but not spatial task indicates that the greater behavioral flexibility in females may only be detectable above some level of task difficulty.
Collapse
|
9
|
López AV, Reboreda JC, Fiorini VD, Gerschenson LN, Hauber ME. A comparative study of the structural and mechanical properties of avian eggshells among hosts of obligate brood parasitic cowbirds (genus Molothrus). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blab041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Obligate avian brood parasites depend on hosts for parental care, which in turn suffer fitness losses as a result of parasitism. Mechanisms by which brood parasitic cowbirds (Molothrus spp.) reduce host breeding success include the puncture (M. rufoaxillaris and M. bonariensis) or removal (M. ater) of the eggs of the host. Our working hypothesis is that the host eggs’ mechanical strength and their size and shape in species with higher frequency of parasitism covaries with the cowbird’s strategy to reduce host clutch size. Our results, obtained through phylogenetic analyses based on egg 2D geometric morphometry and eggshell mechanical and ultrastructural measurements, suggest that egg-puncturer behaviour has led to an increase in the strength of the host’s eggshell, which might make them more difficult to be pierced. We also characterized larger, more rounded and asymmetrical eggs in frequent hosts of M. ater, which might be more difficult to be removed. These interspecific host egg and shell traits were also positively affected by the frequency of parasitism, indicating that species-specific patterns of parasitic costs select for respective anti-parasitic defences in hosts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Analía V López
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, (C1428EGA) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires,Argentina
| | - Juan C Reboreda
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, (C1428EGA) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires,Argentina
- IEGEBA - CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, (C1428EGA) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Vanina D Fiorini
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, (C1428EGA) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires,Argentina
- IEGEBA - CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, (C1428EGA) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Lía N Gerschenson
- Departamento de Industrias, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, (C1428EGA) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana‒Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Bruno DL, Chernieski D, Francisco MR. Breeding behavior of the Helmeted Manakin Antilophia galeata (Passeriformes: Pipridae) in a gallery forest from São Paulo state, Brazil. ZOOLOGIA 2021. [DOI: 10.1590/s1984-4689.v38.e21011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
|
11
|
Ursino CA, Strong MJ, Reboreda JC, Riehl C. Genetic patterns of repeat and multiple parasitism by screaming cowbirds, a specialist brood parasite. Anim Behav 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
|
12
|
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'.
Collapse
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
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Size matters: shiny cowbirds secure more food than host nestmates thanks to their larger size, not signal exaggeration. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
|
14
|
Rojas Ripari JM, Segura LN, Reboreda JC, De Mársico MC. Non-mimetic shiny cowbird nestlings escape discrimination by baywings in absence of host nest mates. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-019-2749-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
|
15
|
|
16
|
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]
|
17
|
|
18
|
|
19
|
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]
|
20
|
de la Colina MA, Hauber ME, Strausberger BM, Reboreda JC, Mahler B. Molecular tracking of individual host use in the Shiny Cowbird - a generalist brood parasite. Ecol Evol 2016; 6:4684-96. [PMID: 27547305 PMCID: PMC4979699 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2015] [Revised: 05/13/2016] [Accepted: 05/16/2016] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Generalist parasites exploit multiple host species at the population level, but the individual parasite's strategy may be either itself a generalist or a specialist pattern of host species use. Here, we studied the relationship between host availability and host use in the individual parasitism patterns of the Shiny Cowbird Molothrus bonariensis, a generalist avian obligate brood parasite that parasitizes an extreme range of hosts. Using five microsatellite markers and an 1120-bp fragment of the mtDNA control region, we reconstructed full-sibling groups from 359 cowbird eggs and chicks found in nests of the two most frequent hosts in our study area, the Chalk-browed Mockingbird Mimus saturninus and the House Wren Troglodytes aedon. We were able to infer the laying behavior of 17 different females a posteriori and found that they were mostly faithful to a particular laying area and host species along the entire reproductive season and did not avoid using previously parasitized nests (multiple parasitism) even when other nests were available for parasitism. Moreover, we found females using the same host nest more than once (repeated parasitism), which had not been previously reported for this species. We also found few females parasitizing more than one host species. The use of an alternative host was not related to the main hosts' nest availability. Overall, female shiny cowbirds use a spatially structured and host species specific approach for parasitism, but they do so nonexclusively, resulting in both detectable levels of multiple parasitism and generalism at the level of individual parasites.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ma Alicia de la Colina
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, and IEGEBA-CONICET Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales Universidad de Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Psychology Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York 695 Park Avenue New York New York 10065; School of Biological Sciences University of Auckland 3A Symonds Street PB 92019 Auckland New Zealand
| | - Bill M Strausberger
- Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution Field Museum of Natural History 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive Chicago Illinois 60605
| | - Juan Carlos Reboreda
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, and IEGEBA-CONICET Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales Universidad de Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - Bettina Mahler
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, and IEGEBA-CONICET Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales Universidad de Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Argentina
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Mermoz ME, Haupt C, Fernández GJ. Brown-and-yellow marshbirds reduce their acceptance threshold of mimetic brood parasite eggs in the presence of non-mimetic eggs. J ETHOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s10164-015-0447-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
|
22
|
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]
|
23
|
Tuero DT, Gloag R, Reboreda JC. Nest environment modulates begging behavior of a generalist brood parasite. Behav Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arv140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
|
24
|
Domínguez M, de la Colina MA, Di Giacomo AG, Reboreda JC, Mahler B. Host switching in cowbird brood parasites: how often does it occur? J Evol Biol 2015; 28:1290-7. [PMID: 25903962 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2014] [Revised: 04/08/2015] [Accepted: 04/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Avian obligate brood parasites lay their eggs in nests of host species, which provide all parental care. Brood parasites may be host specialists, if they use one or a few host species, or host generalists, if they parasitize many hosts. Within the latter, strains of host-specific females might coexist. Although females preferentially parasitize one host, they may occasionally successfully parasitize the nest of another species. These host switching events allow the colonization of new hosts and the expansion of brood parasites into new areas. In this study, we analyse host switching in two parasitic cowbirds, the specialist screaming cowbird (Molothrus rufoaxillaris) and the generalist shiny cowbird (M. bonariensis), and compare the frequency of host switches between these species with different parasitism strategies. Contrary to expected, host switches did not occur more frequently in the generalist than in the specialist brood parasite. We also found that migration between hosts was asymmetrical in most cases and host switches towards one host were more recurrent than backwards, thus differing among hosts within the same species. This might depend on a combination of factors including the rate at which females lay eggs in nests of alternative hosts, fledging success of the chicks in this new host and their subsequent success in parasitizing it.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M Domínguez
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, and IEGEBA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - M A de la Colina
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, and IEGEBA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - A G Di Giacomo
- Departamento de Conservación, Aves Argentinas/Asociación Ornitológica del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - J C Reboreda
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, and IEGEBA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - B Mahler
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, and IEGEBA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
|