1
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Nahid MI, Ranke PS, Liang W. Asian koel rapidly locates host breeding in novel nest sites. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11345. [PMID: 38694758 PMCID: PMC11056848 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 04/03/2024] [Accepted: 04/12/2024] [Indexed: 05/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Avian brood parasites depend upon locating host nests to lay their eggs. However, how brood parasites locate host nests and select the nests for parasitism remains poorly studied. Here, we examined how a non-evicting brood parasite, the Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) were able to locate host nests in locally novel nest sites. We provided a set of novel nest sites (i.e., nestboxes, n = 100) to the common myna (Acridotheres tristis), a regular host of the Asian koel, at a field site in Central Bangladesh. We found that common myna quickly utilized the novel breeding sites (n = 99 nests across 59 boxes) and similarly, 21.2% of these nests were parasitized by the Asian koel. Unsurprisingly, none of the inactive nest boxes were parasitized, neither were empty nests of common myna (i.e., either predated or fledged clutches, thus lack of parental activity, n = 83). Our results provide an experimental demonstration of the Asian koel ability to rapidly locate nests in locally novel nest sites, potentially facilitated by close monitoring of host activity and behavior around the nest site. However, the underlying mechanisms for this rapid adjustment to novel nest sites remain unresolved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mominul Islam Nahid
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life SciencesHainan Normal UniversityHaikouChina
- Bangladesh Forest Research Institute (BFRI)KhulnaBangladesh
| | - Peter S. Ranke
- Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics (CBD), Department of BiologyNorwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)TrondheimNorway
- BirdLife NorwayTrondheimNorway
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life SciencesHainan Normal UniversityHaikouChina
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2
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Wang J, Zhou Q, Zuo T, Wang L, Ma L, Hou J. Three sympatric host nestlings eavesdrop on cuckoo nestling distress calls. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11437. [PMID: 38756686 PMCID: PMC11097003 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2024] [Revised: 04/27/2024] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024] Open
Abstract
In predator-prey interactions, the prey faces extreme challenges from predation, which drives the evolution of defense or anti-predator mechanisms. Compared with adult birds, nestlings are more vulnerable but not helpless. However, data on whether nestlings eavesdrop on the danger signals transmitted by other prey nestlings and the mechanisms of eavesdropping remain limited. In brood parasitism, common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) nestlings, raised by host adults who are not closely related, offer an instructive system for studying the transmission and recognition of danger signals among nestlings of different species that share special relationships. We played back the distress calls of common cuckoo nestlings to nestlings of three sympatric host species (the oriental reed warbler Acrocephalus orientalis, which is a primary host of the common cuckoo, the reed parrotbill Paradoxornis heudei, an occasional host, and the vinous-throated parrotbill Sinosuthora webbiana, which is not parasitized in the study area) to investigate whether the host nestlings reduced their begging behavior. We also quantified the degree of inhibition toward begging behavior for these nestlings. The results revealed that, in response to the distress calls, the three sympatric host species markedly suppressed their begging behavior. This response can likely be attributed to the innate response of host nestlings caused by the general characteristics of distress calls, rather than the acoustic similarity and phylogenetic relationship between host nestlings and cuckoo nestlings. Furthermore, we observed that upon hearing the distress calls of cuckoo nestlings, the oriental reed warbler nestlings exhibited the greatest reduction in the total number of calls compared to the other two host species, potentially owing to stronger predation and parasitic pressures. This study suggests that host nestlings can detect danger signals emitted by parasitic nestlings; however, further investigation is needed to determine whether they can respond to distress calls from unfamiliar nestlings in different regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaojiao Wang
- College of Life Science, Hebei UniversityBaodingChina
- Engineering Research Center of Ecological Safety and Conservation in Beijing‐Tianjin‐Hebei (Xiong’an New Area) of MOEBaodingChina
| | - Qindong Zhou
- School of Life SciencesGuizhou Normal UniversityGuiyangChina
| | - Taijun Zuo
- College of Life Science, Hebei UniversityBaodingChina
| | - Longwu Wang
- School of Life SciencesGuizhou Normal UniversityGuiyangChina
| | - Laikun Ma
- College of Life Science, Hebei UniversityBaodingChina
- Department of Biology and Food ScienceHebei Normal University for NationalitiesChengdeChina
| | - Jianhua Hou
- College of Life Science, Hebei UniversityBaodingChina
- Engineering Research Center of Ecological Safety and Conservation in Beijing‐Tianjin‐Hebei (Xiong’an New Area) of MOEBaodingChina
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3
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Zhang Y, Zhong G, Wan G, Wang L, Liang W. Brood parasitism and egg recognition in three bunting hosts of the cuckoos. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10659. [PMID: 37869426 PMCID: PMC10587740 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Revised: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Comparative studies of egg recognition and rejection between various sympatric hosts provide insight into the coevolutionary history of the hosts and parasites, as well as the degree of antagonism between the species. Although buntings are widely considered to be a suitable host taxon for cuckoos, there has been relatively little research on this example of parasitism and host antiparasitic behaviour. Here we provided the first report on brood parasitism and egg recognition in three sympatric ground-nesting bunting hosts of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), namely the yellow-throated bunting (Emberiza elegans), south rock bunting (E. yunnanensis), and crested bunting (E. lathami). The results show that for the five breeding seasons during 2018-2022, the parasitism rate by common cuckoos was 0.87% and 0.45% in yellow-throated buntings and south rock buntings, respectively, whereas the parasitism rate by an unidentified parasite was 4% during 2018-2023 in the crested bunting. The rejection rates of the three bunting hosts for blue non-mimetic eggs were 89.3%, 88.9%, and 100% for yellow-throated buntings, south rock buntings, and crested buntings, respectively. The rejection rates for red non-mimetic eggs by yellow-throated buntings and south rock buntings were lower at 76.9% and 82.4%, respectively. All three sympatric bunting hosts examined had high levels of egg recognition and egg rejection, suggesting that it may have been subjected to high parasitic history and that egg recognition ability was retained after the loss of parasitism, which needs to be further verified by future experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuhan Zhang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life SciencesHainan Normal UniversityHaikouChina
| | - Guo Zhong
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life SciencesHainan Normal UniversityHaikouChina
| | - Guixia Wan
- School of Life SciencesGuizhou Normal UniversityGuiyangChina
| | - Longwu Wang
- School of Life SciencesGuizhou Normal UniversityGuiyangChina
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life SciencesHainan Normal UniversityHaikouChina
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4
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Wang L, Liang W. Random egg laying in host nests, rather than egg-matching, explains patterns of cuckoo parasitism: a comment on Zhang et al. (2023). Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231018. [PMID: 37700656 PMCID: PMC10498026 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/14/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Longwu Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, People's Republic of China
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, People's Republic of China
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Trnka A, Ma L, Yan H, Wang L, Liang W. Defense behavior of two closely related but geographically distant host species against cuckoo parasitism: A next test for the parallel coevolution. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10175. [PMID: 37304363 PMCID: PMC10251422 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Interactions between avian brood parasites, such as common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus), and their hosts are one of the best-studied examples of the coevolutionary arms race. Different stages of this arms race can be seen in different races of common cuckoos and their hosts across their range. However, little is known whether selected populations of two closely related but geographically distant species with probably different coevolutionary histories with the common cuckoo are also at different stages of the arms race. In this study, we tested this prediction experimentally using the same non-mimetic model eggs and three-dimensional (3D) printed models of the gray adult common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). We examined egg recognition and egg rejection and aggression against the common cuckoo in the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) and Oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis), in Slovakia of Europe and northeast China of Asia. The results showed that the great reed warbler exhibited stronger responses to experimental model eggs and 3D models of the common cuckoo than the Oriental reed warbler. We conclude that both the great reed warbler and Oriental reed warbler have well-developed antiparasitic behaviors against common cuckoos in the studied populations, but with different levels of defense intensity, which may be due to local differences in parasitic pressure and the risk of parasitism. This provides an opportunity to study coevolutionary processes between the brood parasite and its hosts together in both species at large geographical scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfréd Trnka
- Department of BiologyUniversity of TrnavaTrnavaSlovakia
| | - Laikun Ma
- School of Life SciencesHebei UniversityBaodingChina
- Department of Biology and Food ScienceHebei Normal University for NationalitiesChengdeChina
| | - Hanlin Yan
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life SciencesHainan Normal UniversityHaikouChina
| | - Longwu Wang
- School of Life SciencesGuizhou Normal UniversityGuiyangChina
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life SciencesHainan Normal UniversityHaikouChina
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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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7
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Zhao H, Luo H, Yan H, He G, Wang L, Liang W. Fatal mobbing and attack of the common cuckoo by its warbler hosts. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9649. [PMID: 36568870 PMCID: PMC9772492 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Nest defense is an effective strategy of hosts against parasites. Typically, hosts will aggressively attack brood parasites that approach or visit their nests, which can prevent the parasites from laying eggs or may even lead to the death of the parasites. Few previous studies have specifically reported such fatal cases involving brood parasites and have attributed the cause of death to either drowning or hypothermia after falling into the water following an attack from hosts. In this study, we recorded the process of multiple host individuals of the Oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis) mobbing and attacking a female common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) in the field. We discovered that the immediate cause of the cuckoo's death was the fatal physical damage resulting from the aggressive defense from the hosts, suggesting that frantic pecking and scratching by the hosts is the most proximate cause of mortality among egg-laying female cuckoos. This finding enhances our essential understanding of the effectiveness of host attacks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huahua Zhao
- School of Life SciencesGuizhou Normal UniversityGuiyangChina
| | - Haixia Luo
- School of Life SciencesGuizhou Normal UniversityGuiyangChina
| | - Hanlin Yan
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life SciencesHainan Normal UniversityHaikouChina
| | - Gangbin He
- School of Life SciencesGuizhou Normal UniversityGuiyangChina
| | - Longwu Wang
- School of Life SciencesGuizhou Normal UniversityGuiyangChina
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life SciencesHainan Normal UniversityHaikouChina
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8
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Yang C, Chen X, Wang L, Liang W. Defensive adaptations to cuckoo parasitism in the black-browed reed warbler (Acrocephalus bistrigiceps): recognition and mechanism. Anim Cogn 2022; 25:1299-1306. [PMID: 35320446 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01613-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Revised: 02/25/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Hosts of avian brood parasites suffer a high cost of reproductive loss due to parasitism, driving them to evolve a variety of anti-parasitic defenses. These defenses comprise a series of components, including the recognition of brood parasites and the eggs laid by the parasites, cues used for recognition, and the mechanisms on which these behaviors are based. In this study, we conducted egg recognition and nest intruder experiments to examine these components of anti-parasitic behavior in the black-browed reed warbler (Acrocephalus bistrigiceps), a rare host of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). We found that the host possessed strong recognition capacity, rejecting 100% of parasitic eggs, and used a template-based mechanism for egg recognition. The host birds also rejected 80% of their own eggs on which artificial markings were added to the blunt pole; however, they accepted all eggs with the same manipulation on the sharp pole, implying that the blunt pole was an important recognition cue. Furthermore, the host exhibited stronger aggression to cuckoos than to harmless controls; a behavior specific to the incubation stage rather than the nestling stage. Therefore, the host was able to distinguish the cuckoo from other nest intruders as being a brood parasite. These results together help explain the near absence of cuckoo parasitism in black-browed reed warblers and provide new information concerning anti-parasitic defenses in this host species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Canchao Yang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, 571158, China.
| | - Xiangyang Chen
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, 571158, China
| | - Longwu Wang
- State Forestry Administration of China Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Conservation in Mountainous Areas of Southwest Karst, School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, 550001, 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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Wang J, Ma L, Chen X, Yang C. Female Cuckoo Calls Deceive Their Hosts by Evoking Nest-Leaving Behavior: Variation under Different Levels of Parasitism. Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:ani12151990. [PMID: 35953979 PMCID: PMC9367515 DOI: 10.3390/ani12151990] [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: 07/02/2022] [Revised: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Obligate brood parasite birds such as the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) can trick their hosts via a variety of means. Cuckoos are threats to the host nests but not to the host adults themselves. To successfully parasitize the host nests, female cuckoos have been hypothesized to distract the hosts’ attention from their nests by mimicking the calls of sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus), a predator of the hosts. We performed playback experiments in two populations of the host oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis) that have experienced different levels of parasitic pressure. We found that female cuckoo calls evoked both populations of the hosts to leave their nests more frequently than did the calls of male cuckoos or doves that do not pose threats to the hosts. This indicated that the call of the female cuckoo functions to deceive the host and thus favors host brood parasitism. However, we propose that such a deceiving effect of the female cuckoo call is due to the rapid cadence of the call rather than sparrowhawk mimicry. Abstract The common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is an obligate brood parasite that has evolved a series of strategies to trick its hosts. The female cuckoo has been hypothesized to mimic the appearance and sounds of several raptors to deceive the hosts into exhibiting anti-predator behavior. Such behavior would relax the protection of the host nest and thus allow the female cuckoo to approach the host nest unopposed. Many anti-parasite strategies have been found to vary among geographical populations due to different parasitic pressures from cuckoos. However, the effect of female cuckoo calls related to different levels of parasitic pressure has not been examined. Here, we studied the effect of female cuckoo calls on the oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis), one of the major hosts of the common cuckoo, in two geographical populations experiencing different levels of parasite pressure. Four kinds of sounds were played back to the hosts: the calls from female common cuckoos, male common cuckoos, sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus), and oriental turtle doves (Streptopelia orientalis). The results showed that the female cuckoo calls induced the hosts to leave their nests more frequently than the male cuckoo or dove calls in both populations, and two populations of the hosts reacted similarly to the female cuckoo calls, implying that the function of female cuckoo calls would not be affected by the difference in parasitism rate. This study indicates that female cuckoo calls function to distract the hosts’ attention from protecting their nests. However, we propose that such a deception by the female cuckoo call may not be due to the mimicry of sparrowhawk calls, but rather that the rapid cadence of the call that causes a sense of anxiety in the hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaojiao Wang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China
- College of Life Science, Hebei University, Baoding 071000, China
| | - Laikun Ma
- College of Life Science, Hebei University, Baoding 071000, China
- Department of Biology and Food Science, Hebei Normal University for Nationalities, Chengde 067000, China
| | - Xiangyang Chen
- 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
- Correspondence:
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10
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Holleley CE, Grieve AC, Grealy A, Medina I, Langmore NE. Thicker eggshells are not predicted by host egg ejection behaviour in four species of Australian cuckoo. Sci Rep 2022; 12:6320. [PMID: 35428801 PMCID: PMC9012832 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09872-9] [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: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Defences of hosts against brood parasitic cuckoos include detection and ejection of cuckoo eggs from the nest. Ejection behaviour often involves puncturing the cuckoo egg, which is predicted to drive the evolution of thicker eggshells in cuckoos that parasitise such hosts. Here we test this prediction in four Australian cuckoo species and their hosts, using Hall-effect magnetic-inference to directly estimate eggshell thickness in parasitised clutches. In Australia, hosts that build cup-shaped nests are generally adept at ejecting cuckoo eggs, whereas hosts that build dome-shaped nests mostly accept foreign eggs. We analysed two datasets: a small sample of hosts with known egg ejection rates and a broader sample of hosts where egg ejection behaviour was inferred based on nest type (dome or cup). Contrary to predictions, cuckoos that exploit dome-nesting hosts (acceptor hosts) had significantly thicker eggshells relative to their hosts than cuckoos that exploit cup-nesting hosts (ejector hosts). No difference in eggshell thicknesses was observed in the smaller sample of hosts with known egg ejection rates, probably due to lack of power. Overall cuckoo eggshell thickness did not deviate from the expected avian relationship between eggshell thickness and egg length estimated from 74 bird species. Our results do not support the hypothesis that thicker eggshells have evolved in response to host ejection behaviour in Australian cuckoos, but are consistent with the hypothesis that thicker eggshells have evolved to reduce the risk of breakage when eggs are dropped into dome nests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clare E Holleley
- Australian National Wildlife Collection, National Research Collections Australia, CSIRO, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.
| | - Alice C Grieve
- Australian National Wildlife Collection, National Research Collections Australia, CSIRO, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Alicia Grealy
- Australian National Wildlife Collection, National Research Collections Australia, CSIRO, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.,Langmore Group, Research School of Biology, Building 46, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia
| | - Iliana Medina
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Royal Parade, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Naomi E Langmore
- Langmore Group, Research School of Biology, Building 46, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia.
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Wang J, Ma L, Chen X, Yang C. Common Cuckoo Nestling Adapts Its Begging Behavior to the Alarm Signaling System of a Host. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.830441] [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
Cuckoo nestlings thrive as avian brood parasites. To acquire sufficient food from the host parents, cuckoo nestlings generally make louder begging calls than host nestlings, but this may cause them to be more likely to attract the attention of predators. Studies have shown that nestlings would respond to the alarm calls of their parents by begging less, or crouching and remaining silent as an adaptation to reduce the risk of being heard by predators. Nevertheless, research is lacking on how parasite nestlings respond to alarm calls of their host parents. We studied the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) and one of the most common cuckoo host species, the oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis), using a playback experiment in Yongnianwa National Wetland Park during the breeding seasons from June to July, 2020–2021. The begging behaviors of either cuckoo or host nestlings were quantified by playing back the alarm calls of host adults toward common cuckoo, sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), or oriental turtle doves (Streptopelia orientalis). Meanwhile, normal begging without playback, playback of the natural singing (NS) of host adults, and background noise (BN) were included as behavioral reference, non-threatening comparison, and playback control, respectively. The results showed that the cuckoo and host nestlings produced similar levels of begging with or without playback of NS and BN; however, both types of nestlings inhibited their begging intensity after hearing the playback of alarm calls, although they did not respond differently to the various alarm call playbacks. This study therefore elucidated that coevolution has selected the common cuckoo nestlings that adapt their begging behavior to the parent–offspring communication of alarm signaling in their host, oriental reed warblers.
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12
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Nest size matters: common cuckoos prefer to parasitize larger nests of Oriental reed warblers. Anim Cogn 2021; 25:589-595. [PMID: 34773170 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01574-5] [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: 08/30/2021] [Revised: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Avian brood parasites leave parental care of their offspring to foster parents. Theory predicts that parasites should select for large host nests when they have sufficient available host nests at a given time. We developed an empirical experimental design to test cognitive ability of female cuckoos in nest size by studying nest choice of common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) among nests of its Oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis) hosts. We presented three groups of experimental nests: 1) nest dyads tied together including one large and one small artificial nest from reed leaves, 2) nest triads tied together used the old modified warbler's own nests including enlarged, reduced and medium-sized nests, and 3) nest dyads are similar to group 1, but not tied together to elicit parasitism by common cuckoos. We predict that cuckoos prefer larger nest than medium one, the next is smaller nest. Our findings showed that common cuckoo females generally prefer large nests over medium or small sized nests in all three experimental groups. Furthermore, cuckoo parasitism was significantly more common than in previous studies of the same warbler population, implying that larger, higher and more exposed host nests effectively increased the probability of cuckoo parasitism.
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13
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Wang Y, Tian M, Liu J, Lu X, Møller AP, Xia C. Testing the Interspecific Function of Female Common Cuckoo “Bubbling” Call. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.725222] [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
Female common cuckoo (Cuculus canorous) predator-like “bubbling” calls distract host parental attention and reduce the egg rejection rate. Such “bubbling” calls are also frequently used to attract males and deter territorial rivals in intraspecies contact, and these calls are an ancestral character in many cuckoo species. Although hosts have had sufficient time to become familiar with this call and evolve anti-parasitic strategies, why are the hosts fooled by this “bubbling” call? We propose two hypotheses. The first hypothesis proposes that call variation reduces the opportunity for host species to correctly assess cuckoo tricks. In contrast, the second hypothesis proposes that the cost of behavior may prevent the antiparasitic strategy from evolving. In the study, we tested the prerequisites of these hypotheses, by investigating whether cuckoo calls vary during the day and testing whether the predator-like calls suppress bird activities. Based on field recordings from three different areas, we found high overlap in the calls generated during different periods. Oriental great reed warblers (Acrocephalus orientalis), a host species, did not show different responses toward the playback of female common cuckoo calls generated before noon or afternoon. Based on bird count data, we found that predator-like call playback is insufficient for suppressing bird activities. Therefore, none of the prerequisites were supported by our field data. We discuss the potential reasons for our findings and hope to inspire more research examining female cuckoo vocalizations.
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Wang J, Ma L, Chen X, Yang C. Behavioral and Acoustic Responses of the Oriental Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis), at Egg and Nestling Stages, to the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.705748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Cuckoo nest parasites lay eggs in host nests and thereby transfer all reproduction costs to the hosts. This greatly reduces host fitness. Parasitism has selected for the evolution of anti-parasitic strategies in hosts, including nest defense. The dynamic risk assessment hypothesis holds that nest parasitism only threatens the nests during the egg stage, so hosts should reduce the level of defense against nest parasites after the egg stage. We studied the behavioral and acoustic responses of oriental reed warblers (Acrocephalus orientalis), during both the egg and nestling stages, toward the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus) and oriental turtle doves (Streptopelia orientalis). A. orientalis can visually distinguish cuckoos from sparrowhawks and doves, indicating that hawk mimicry did not work for the cuckoos. The behavioral response of hosts in the nestling stage was stronger than in the egg stage, which supports the offspring value hypothesis and suggests that cuckoos may also act as nest predators. However, there was no difference in the alarm calls A. orientalis produce in response to different invaders, indicating that different types of alarm calls may not contain specific information.
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15
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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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Attila Marton
- Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human BiologyUniversity of DebrecenDebrecenHungary
- Juhász‐Nagy Pál Doctoral SchoolUniversity of DebrecenDebrecenHungary
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16
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Koleček J, Piálková R, Piálek L, Šulc M, Hughes AE, Brlík V, Procházka P, Požgayová M, Capek M, Sosnovcová K, Štětková G, Valterová R, Honza M. Spatiotemporal patterns of egg laying in the common cuckoo. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.04.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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17
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Chen W, Chen H, Feng Q, Mo L, Hong S. A hybrid optimization method for sample partitioning in near-infrared analysis. SPECTROCHIMICA ACTA. PART A, MOLECULAR AND BIOMOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY 2021; 248:119182. [PMID: 33234474 DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2020.119182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2020] [Revised: 11/01/2020] [Accepted: 11/01/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The division of calibration and validation is one of the essential procedures that affect the prediction result of the calibration model in quantitative analysis of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. The conventional methods are Kennard-Stone (KS) and sample set partitioning based on joint x-y distances (SPXY). These algorithms use Euclidean distance to cover as many representative samples as possible. This paper proposes an Adaptive Hybrid Cuckoo-Tabu Search (AHCTS) algorithm for partitioning samples based on optimization. The algorithm combines the characteristics of cuckoo search (CS) and tabu search (TS) and fuses with an adaptive function. For comparison, using fishmeal samples as spectral analysis data, KS, SPXY, and AHCTS algorithms were used to divide the modeling samples to establish partial least squares regression (PLSR) models. The experimental results showed that the model established by the proposed algorithm performs better than KS and SPXY. It reveals that the AHCTS method may be an advantageous alternative for quantitative analysis of NIR spectroscopy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weihao Chen
- College of Science, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
| | - Huazhou Chen
- College of Science, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China; Center for Data Analysis and Algorithm Technology, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China.
| | - Quanxi Feng
- College of Science, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China; Center for Data Analysis and Algorithm Technology, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
| | - Lina Mo
- College of Science, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
| | - Shaoyong Hong
- School of Data Science, Huashang College Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, Guangzhou 511300, China
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18
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Wang L, Zhang Y, Liang W, Møller AP. Common cuckoo females remove more conspicuous eggs during parasitism. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:201264. [PMID: 33614072 PMCID: PMC7890504 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.201264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2020] [Accepted: 12/11/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Avian obligate brood parasites gain an advantage by removing the eggs of the cuckoos who have already visited the nest, which can increase the chances of survival for their offspring. Conversely, to prevent their eggs from being picked up by the next parasitic cuckoo, they need to take some precautions. Egg mimicry and egg crypsis are two alternative strategies to prevent the parasitized egg from being picked up by another parasitic cuckoo. Here, we tested whether the egg crypsis hypothesis has a preventative effect when common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) parasitize their Oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis) hosts. We designed two experimental groups with different crypsis effects to induce common cuckoos to lay eggs and observed whether the cuckoos selectively picked up the experimental eggs with low crypsis levels in the process of parasitism. Our results supported the egg crypsis hypothesis; the observed cuckoos significantly preferred to select the more obvious white model eggs. This shows that even in an open nest, eggs that are adequately hidden can also be protected from being picked up by cuckoo females during parasitism so as to increase the survival chance of their own parasitic eggs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Longwu Wang
- State Forestry Administration of China Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Conservation in Mountainous Areas of Southwest Karst, School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuhan Zhang
- State Forestry Administration of China Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Conservation in Mountainous Areas of Southwest Karst, School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, People's Republic of China
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, People's Republic of China
| | - Anders Pape Møller
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, People's Republic of China
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France
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19
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Warblers perform less nest defense behavior and alarm calls to human intruders: A result of habituation. Glob Ecol Conserv 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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20
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Yang C, Wang L, MØller AP, Liang W. Egg polymorphism and highly sensitive egg recognition of cross-phenotypes in rufescent prinias Prinia rufescens as effective defenses against brood parasitism. Integr Zool 2020; 16:280-285. [PMID: 32644219 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Whether escalating egg polymorphism increases the efficiency to reduce the fitness costs of brood parasitism is not supported by empirical studies. Rufescent prinias (Prinia rufescens) laying tetramorphic eggs are highly sensitive to conspecific foreign eggs with different phenotypes that they reject perfectly at 100%, and suffer only 1.4% of plaintive cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus) parasitism. Our study provided empirical evidence showing that escalation of egg polymorphism in hosts increases their fitness because it reduces successful cuckoo parasitism rate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Canchao Yang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, China
| | - Longwu Wang
- State Forestry Administration of China Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Conservation in Mountainous Areas of Southwest Karst, School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China
| | - Anders Pape MØller
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, Orsay Cedex, France
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, China
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21
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Wang L, Yang C, He G, Liang W, Møller AP. Cuckoos use host egg number to choose host nests for parasitism. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200343. [PMID: 32517623 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
To maximize their offspring success common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) females should lay their eggs into host nests before incubation has begun. This ensures that the parasite chick hatches before all host chicks and can evict its foster siblings to monopolize host parental care. Many studies have demonstrated that most cuckoo eggs are indeed laid before the onset of host incubation. But cues used by female cuckoos to choose the right nest at the right time remain unclear. Here, we combine field observations with a field experiment to test whether female cuckoos use the number of eggs in the nests of their Oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis) hosts to direct their choice. Over 8 years of field observations and 5 years of experiments, cuckoo females placed the majority of their eggs in nests with fewer than three host eggs, i.e. early in the laying sequence. For natural nests, the cuckoos may use information gleaned from the activity and behaviour of the host parents to make their choice. In our sets of experimental nests containing different numbers of model eggs, the vast majority of parasitism events occurred in nests containing a single egg. To our knowledge, this is the first field experiment showing that cuckoos choose host nests for parasitism based on the number of host eggs they contain. It appears that cuckoo females use the egg number to estimate the appropriate host nest stage for timely parasitism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Longwu Wang
- State Forestry Administration of China Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Conservation in Mountainous Areas of Southwest Karst, School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, People's Republic of China
| | - Canchao Yang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, People's Republic of China
| | - Gangbin He
- State Forestry Administration of China Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Conservation in Mountainous Areas of Southwest Karst, School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, People's Republic of China
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, People's Republic of China
| | - Anders Pape Møller
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91405 Orsay Cedex, France
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22
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Yang C, Si X, Liang W, Møller AP. Spatial variation in egg polymorphism among cuckoo hosts across 4 continents. Curr Zool 2020; 66:477-483. [PMID: 33293928 PMCID: PMC7705517 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoaa011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2019] [Accepted: 03/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Although egg color polymorphism has evolved as an effective defensive adaptation to brood parasitism, spatial variations in egg color polymorphism remain poorly characterized. Here, we investigated egg polymorphism in 647 host species (68 families and 231 genera) parasitized by 41 species of Old Word cuckoos (1 family and 11 genera) across Asia, Europe, Africa, and Australia. The diversity of parasitic cuckoos differs among continents, reflecting the continent-specific intensities of parasitic selection pressure on hosts. Therefore, host egg polymorphism is expected to evolve more frequently on continents with higher cuckoo diversity. We identified egg polymorphism in 24.1% of all host species and 47.6% of all host families. The common cuckoo Cuculus canorus utilized 184 hosts (28.4% of all host species). Hosts of the common cuckoo and of Chrysococcyx species were more likely to have polymorphic eggs than hosts parasitized by other cuckoos. Both the number of host species and the host families targeted by the cuckoo species were positively correlated with the frequency of host egg polymorphism. Most host species and most hosts exhibiting egg color polymorphism were located in Asia and Africa. Host egg polymorphism was observed less frequently in Australia and Europe. Our results also suggested that egg polymorphism tends to occur more frequently in hosts that are utilized by several cuckoo species or by generalist cuckoo species. We suggest that selection pressure on hosts from a given continent increases proportionally to the number of cuckoo species, and that this selection pressure may, in turn, favor the evolution of host egg polymorphism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Canchao Yang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Tropical Plant and Animal Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China
| | - Xingfeng Si
- Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China.,Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), Shanghai 202162, China
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Tropical Plant and Animal Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China
| | - Anders Pape Møller
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91405 Orsay Cedex, France
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23
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Yu J, Lu H, Sun W, Liang W, Wang H, Møller AP. Heterospecific alarm-call recognition in two warbler hosts of common cuckoos. Anim Cogn 2019; 22:1149-1157. [PMID: 31506795 PMCID: PMC6834739 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-019-01307-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2019] [Revised: 09/01/2019] [Accepted: 09/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Species facing similar selection pressures should recognize heterospecific alarm signals. However, no study has so far examined heterospecific alarm-call recognition in response to parasitism by cuckoos. In this study, we tested whether two sympatric host species of the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus, Oriental reed warbler Acrocephalus orientalis (ORW, main host), and black-browed reed warbler Acrocephalus bistrigiceps (BRW, rare host), could recognize each other’s alarm calls in response to cuckoos. Dummies of common cuckoo (parasite) and Eurasian sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus (predator) were used to induce and record alarm calls of the two warbler species, respectively. In the conspecific alarm-call playback experiments, ORW responded more strongly to cuckoo alarm calls than to sparrowhawk alarm calls, while BRW responded less strongly to cuckoo alarm calls than to sparrowhawk alarm calls. In the heterospecific alarm-call playback experiments, both ORW and BRW responded less strongly to cuckoo alarm calls than sparrowhawk alarm calls. BRW seemed to learn the association between parasite-related alarm calls of the ORW and the cuckoo by observing the process of ORW attacking cuckoos. In contrast, alarm calls of BRW to cuckoos were rarely recorded in most cases. BRW with low parasite pressure still developed recognition of heterospecific parasite-related alarm call. Unintended receivers in the same community should recognize heterospecific alarm calls precisely to extract valuable information.
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Affiliation(s)
- 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
| | - Hailin Lu
- 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
| | - Wei Sun
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, 571158, China.
| | - Haitao Wang
- Jilin Engineering Laboratory for Avian Ecology and Conservation Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China.
| | - Anders Pape Møller
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, 91405, Orsay Cedex, France.,Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
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24
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Yang C, Liang W, Møller AP. Do cuckoos imprint on hosts, micro-habitats, or nest sites? Parasitism preferences in the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2542-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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25
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Ma L, Yang C, Liu J, Zhang J, Liang W, Møller AP. Costs of breeding far away from neighbors: Isolated host nests are more vulnerable to cuckoo parasitism. Behav Processes 2018; 157:327-332. [PMID: 30059764 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2018.07.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2018] [Revised: 07/25/2018] [Accepted: 07/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
A series of parasitic and anti-parasitic strategies has evolved during the long-term coevolution between cuckoos and their hosts. The first stage of the arms race is host nest choice by cuckoos, followed by nest defense by hosts. This study examined nest defense strategies of the Oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis) in relation to parasitism by the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). Attack rate of Oriental reed warblers against common cuckoo dummies was 100% and neighboring individuals participated in 87.1% of such attacks. Furthermore, the number of hosts attacking cuckoo dummies was significantly positively correlated with the number of neighbors at a distance from 40 to 70 m, indicating social anti-parasitic behavior. Analysis of nest-site parameters indicated that the distance to the nearest neighboring unparasitized nest was significantly shorter than that of parasitized nests. Our study demonstrated that isolated nests of Oriental reed warblers with distant neighbors were more vulnerable to common cuckoo parasitism suggesting a cost of breeding far away from neighbors. We hypothesize that cooperative behavior within local populations of Oriental reed warblers can probably be considered as an anti-parasitic strategy developed through long-term coevolution. Choice and parasitism of isolated host nests far away from neighbors may be an adaptive parasitic strategy by common cuckoos to increase the probability of successful parasitism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laikun Ma
- 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
| | - Jianping Liu
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China
| | - Jianwei Zhang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China.
| | - Anders Pape Møller
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91405 Orsay Cedex, France
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26
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Bojarska K, Kuehn R, Gazda MA, Sato NJ, Okahisa Y, Tanaka KD, Attisano A, Gula R, Ueda K, Theuerkauf J. Mating system and extra-pair paternity in the Fan-tailed Gerygone Gerygone flavolateralis in relation to parasitism by the Shining Bronze-cuckoo Chalcites lucidus. PLoS One 2018. [PMID: 29518150 PMCID: PMC5843341 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Extra-pair copulation can increase genetic diversity and offspring fitness. However, it may also increase intra-nest variability in avian hosts of brood parasites, which can decrease the discrimination ability of host parents towards the parasite. In New Caledonia, the Fan-tailed Gerygone (Gerygone flavolateralis), which is parasitized by the Shining Bronze-cuckoo (Chalcites lucidus), has two nestling morphs, dark and bright, that can occur in monomorphic and polymorphic broods. Gerygone parents recognize and eject parasite nestlings from their nest, but the presence of polymorphic broods may increase the chances of recognition errors. Using 17 microsatellite markers, we investigated the mating system of the Fan-tailed Gerygone to understand the mechanisms underlying nestling polymorphism. We hypothesised that extra-pair copulations would lead to a higher proportion of polymorphic broods caused by higher genetic variability, thus creating a trade-off between genetic benefits and host defence reliability. Extra-pair paternity occurred in 6 of 36 broods, which resulted in 6 of 69 offspring sired by extra-pair males. Broods with and without mixed paternity were comparably often parasitized. Extra-pair paternity did not influence the proportions of bright, dark and polymorphic broods. Compared to bright siblings in polymorphic broods, dark nestlings tended to have lower heterozygosity, particularly in loci associated with skin coloration. The results also suggested that there is no obstacle for genetic exchange between individuals from forest and savannah, possibly due to dispersal of offspring. We conclude that the Fan-tailed Gerygone is a socially monogamous species with a low rate of extra-pair paternity compared to closely related species. Extra-pair paternity increased offspring genetic variability without measurable associated costs by brood parasitism. The results highlight the importance of studying host mating systems to assess the trade-offs between host defence and offspring fitness in co-evolutionary arms races.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Bojarska
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.,Unit of Molecular Zoology, Chair of Zoology, Department of Animal Science, Technische Universität München, Freising, Germany
| | - Ralph Kuehn
- Unit of Molecular Zoology, Chair of Zoology, Department of Animal Science, Technische Universität München, Freising, Germany.,Department of Fish, Wildlife & Conservation Ecology and Molecular Biology Program, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Małgorzata A Gazda
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Nozomu J Sato
- Department of Life Sciences, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yuji Okahisa
- Department of Life Sciences, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Keita D Tanaka
- Department of Life Sciences, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Alfredo Attisano
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Roman Gula
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Keisuke Ueda
- Department of Life Sciences, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Jörn Theuerkauf
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
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27
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Keeping eggs warm: thermal and developmental advantages for parasitic cuckoos of laying unusually thick-shelled eggs. Naturwissenschaften 2018; 105:10. [PMID: 29294204 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-017-1532-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2017] [Revised: 12/10/2017] [Accepted: 12/12/2017] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Obligate brood parasites have evolved unusually thick-shelled eggs, which are hypothesized to possess a variety of functions such as resistance to puncture ejection by their hosts. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that obligate brood parasites lay unusually thick-shelled eggs to retain more heat for the developing embryo and thus contribute to early hatching of parasite eggs. By doing so, we used an infrared thermal imaging system as a non-invasive method to quantify the temperature of eggshells of common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) and their Oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis) hosts in an experiment that artificially altered the duration of incubation. Our results showed that cuckoo eggshells had higher temperature than host eggs during incubation, but also less fluctuations in temperature during incubation disturbance. Therefore, there was a thermal and hence a developmental advantage for brood parasitic cuckoos of laying thick-shelled eggs, providing another possible explanation for the unusually thick-shelled eggs of obligate brood parasites and earlier hatching of cuckoo eggs compared to those of the host.
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Yang C, Liang W, Møller AP. Egg Color Polymorphism in Brood Parasites and Their Hosts: Adaptation and Evolution. AVIAN BROOD PARASITISM 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-73138-4_19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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