1
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Abolins‐Abols M, Peterson M, Studer B, Hale M, Hanley D, Bentley G, Hauber ME. Patterns of stress response to foreign eggs by a rejecter host of an obligate avian brood parasite. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9691. [PMID: 36699567 PMCID: PMC9848814 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
One of the most effective defenses of avian hosts against obligate brood parasites is the ejection of parasitic eggs from the nests. Despite the clear fitness benefits of this behavior, individuals within so-called "egg-rejecter" host species still show substantial variation in their propensity to eliminate foreign eggs from the nest. We argue that this variation can be further understood by studying the physiological mechanisms of host responses to brood parasitic egg stimuli: independent lines of research increasingly support the hypothesis that stress-related physiological response to parasitic eggs may trigger egg rejection. The "stress-mediated egg rejection" hypothesis requires that hosts activate the stress-response when responding to parasitic egg stimuli. We tested this prediction by asking whether hosts showed differential stress response when exposed to host-like (mimetic) or parasite-like (non-mimetic) eggs. We experimentally parasitized incubating American robins Turdus migratorius, a robust egg-rejecter host to obligate brood parasitic brown-headed cowbirds Molothrus ater, with mimetic or non-mimetic model eggs. To assess the stress response, we measured the heart rate in incubating females immediately after experimental parasitism. We also measured plasma corticosterone and, in a subset of birds, used RNA-sequencing to analyze the expression of proopiomelanocortin (POMC), a precursor of adrenocorticotropic hormone, 2 h after experimental parasitism. We found that egg type had no effect on heart rate. Two hours following experimental parasitism, plasma corticosterone did not differ between the differently-colored model egg treatments or between rejecter and accepter females within the non-mimetic treatment. However, females exposed to non-mimetic eggs showed an upregulation of POMC gene expression (before FDR correction) in the pituitary compared with females treated with mimetic eggs. Our findings suggest that in an egg-rejecter host species, non-mimetic parasitic eggs may increase the activity of the stress-related hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis compared with mimetic eggs, although the temporal dynamics of this response are not yet understood.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Brett Studer
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative BiologyUniversity of Illinois at Urbana‐ChampaignUrbanaIllinoisUSA
| | - Mattison Hale
- Department of BiologyUniversity of LouisvilleLouisvilleKentuckyUSA
| | - Daniel Hanley
- Department of BiologyGeorge Mason UniversityFairfaxVirginiaUSA
| | - George Bentley
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
| | - Mark E. Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative BiologyUniversity of Illinois at Urbana‐ChampaignUrbanaIllinoisUSA
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2
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Turner AM, Di Giovanni AJ, Antonson ND, Scharf HM, Abolins-Abols M, Hauber ME. Non-invasive elevation of circulating corticosterone increases the rejection of foreign eggs in female American robins (Turdus migratorius). Horm Behav 2022; 146:105278. [PMID: 36395578 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2022.105278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2022] [Revised: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Avian obligate brood parasites rely on other species to raise their offspring. In turn, many brood parasite hosts have evolved defensive behaviors to reduce the costs of brood parasitism, yet the proximate bases underlying these defenses remain poorly understood. Recent studies regarding the potential endocrine mechanisms of foreign-egg rejection have implicated corticosterone as a physiological mediator of anti-parasitic defenses. For example, corticosterone is elevated in response to non-mimetic eggs in an egg rejecter thrush, the Eurasian blackbird (Turdus merula) and this hormone's suppression reduces egg rejection rates in the congeneric American robin (T. migratorius). American robins are also among the few host species of obligate brood parasitic brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) that readily reject foreign eggs from their nests. We non-invasively elevated corticosterone levels in incubating female robins by dissolving it in DMSO gel which was then applied onto eggs already in the clutch. Relative to controls treated with pure DMSO gel, corticosterone-treated female robins were more likely to reject a non-mimetic, cowbird-sized foreign egg (72 %) than control females (50 %) when accounting for the known effect of lower clutch sizes on greater egg rejection. Future studies are needed to assess the sensory and cognitive impact(s) of corticosterone, as well as other hormones essential for parental care, in this and other hosts' defense behaviors against avian brood parasitism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abbigail M Turner
- Deparment of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61801, USA.
| | - Alexander J Di Giovanni
- Deparment of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Nicholas D Antonson
- Deparment of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Hannah M Scharf
- Deparment of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61801, USA
| | | | - Mark E Hauber
- Deparment of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61801, USA
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3
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Ruiz-Raya F, Abaurrea T, Vigo R, Soler M. Physiological stress responses to nonmimetic model brood parasite eggs: Leukocyte profiles and heat-shock protein Hsp70 levels. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY. PART A, ECOLOGICAL AND INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY 2022; 337:587-593. [PMID: 35312177 DOI: 10.1002/jez.2593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2022] [Revised: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 03/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Obligate avian brood parasites lay their eggs in the nest of other bird species, known as hosts. Brood parasitism often imposes severe fitness costs on hosts, selecting for the evolution of effective antiparasitic defences, such as recognition and rejection of brood parasite eggs. Glucocorticoids have been recently found to mediate host physiological and behavioral adjustments in response to brood parasite eggs; however, it remains unclear whether brood parasitism triggers a general response involving multiple physiological elements. In this study, we experimentally investigated whether a salient brood parasitic stimulus (the presence of a nonmimetic model egg in the nest) causes physiological adjustments in adult Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula) at immune (leukocyte profiles) and cellular (heat-shock protein Hsp70 synthesis) level. Also, we explored whether these physiological changes are mediated by variations in corticosterone (CORT) levels. We found that experimental brood parasitism caused an increase in heterophils and a decrease in lymphocytes, leading to higher heterophils and lymphocytes ratios in parasitized birds. Nevertheless, we did not find tradeoffs between immune function and CORT levels. Hsp70 synthesis was not affected by our experimental manipulation. Our findings provide evidence that brood parasite eggs trigger a general stress response in egg-rejecter hosts, including changes in cellular immune profiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Ruiz-Raya
- Grupo de Ecoloxía Animal, Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
| | - Teresa Abaurrea
- Faculty of Biological and Environmental Science, Helsinki Institute of Life Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Ramón Vigo
- Grupo de Ecoloxía Animal, Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
| | - Manuel Soler
- Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
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4
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Turner AM, Di Giovanni AJ, Hoover JP, Hauber ME. Eggshell texture but not odor treatment affects model egg rejection in American robins (Turdus migratorius). Anim Cogn 2022; 25:1307-1312. [PMID: 35325327 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01614-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2021] [Revised: 02/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
To curb fitness costs associated with obligate avian brood parasitism, some hosts have evolved to reject foreign eggs in the nest. American robins (Turdus migratorius) are among the few hosts of the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) that mostly remove parasitic eggs from their nests. With the parasite's eggs looking nothing like their own, American robins likely rely most on visual cues when making rejection decisions. However, we still know little about the roles that tactile and olfactory cues play in robin's or other rejecter hosts' rejection decisions. Here, we conducted a set of experiments to test for the use of tactile or olfactory cues in egg rejection by robins. For the tactile experiment, we found that robins were more likely to reject rough rather than smooth eggs. However, our tactile model egg design was not able to fully discriminate between tactile and visual sensory modalities. In the olfaction experiment, we did not find a significant effect of egg scent treatment on rejection rates. Accordingly, future studies on egg rejection should attempt to fully distinguish between tactile and visual cues, as well as examine olfactory cues in other egg rejecter host species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abbigail M Turner
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
| | - Alexander J Di Giovanni
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Jeffrey P Hoover
- Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61820, USA
| | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.,Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61820, USA
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5
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Clutch size and the rejection of parasitic eggs: a comparative test of the maternal investment hypothesis. Evol Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-022-10165-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Turcotte-van de Rydt AV, Petalas C, Sblendorio JM, Pearl CA, Gill SA, Guigueno MF. Clutch Abandoning Parasitised Yellow Warblers Have Increased Circulating Corticosterone With No Effect of Past Corticosterone or Differences in Egg Maculation Characteristics. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.711732] [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
Parental care can be costly to parents’ fitness. As such, abandonment of the current reproductive attempt may benefit potential future opportunities, maximising lifetime reproductive success. Obligate brood parasitism, a reproductive strategy in which parasites lay their eggs in the nests of other species and rely solely on them to raise the parasitic young, is an ideal system to study brood abandonment. Some parasitised host species have evolved anti-parasitic defences, notably clutch abandonment (egg burial and nest desertion), that may mitigate negative consequences of parasitism. Abandonment of clutches due to parasitism is not unlike abandonment of reproduction in times of stress, suggesting that host responses to parasitism could be triggered at least partly by elevated stress hormones that mediate individual decisions. Yet, the mechanistic basis for clutch abandonment remains unclear. Here, we experimentally parasitised clutches of yellow warblers (Setophaga petechia), a common host of the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater), with model cowbird eggs to examine whether host circulating corticosterone (CORT) differed among females that accepted parasitic eggs or rejected them through clutch abandonment. We also assessed whether feather CORT, a measure of past corticosterone exposure, differed between accepters and abandoners. Finally, we investigated whether egg visual signals, specifically differences in maculation characteristics between model cowbird and host eggs, predicted abandonment of experimentally parasitised clutches. Circulating CORT was higher in females who abandoned their parasitised clutches, but not in those who accepted, relative to controls with no egg addition. Past stress and differences in maculation characteristics did not predict whether individuals accepted or abandoned experimentally parasitised clutches. Moreover, differences in maculation characteristics between the host and model cowbird eggs did not predict CORT levels or nest abandonment. Thus, parasitism with subsequent clutch abandonment may be associated with elevated circulating CORT, but neither past stress nor differences in maculation characteristics influenced abandonment. The combination of these results contributes to our understanding of the roles of corticosterone and egg visual signals in the context of clutch abandonment in brood parasitism specifically, and of parental care more broadly.
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Ruiz-Raya F. Ecophysiology of egg rejection in hosts of avian brood parasites: new insights and perspectives. Curr Zool 2021; 67:631-638. [PMID: 34805540 PMCID: PMC8599070 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoab042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Egg rejection is the most effective and widespread defense used by host species to counteract the extreme fitness costs frequently imposed by obligate avian brood parasites. Yet, the proximate mechanisms underlying between- and within-individual variation in host responses remain poorly explored. Emerging evidence suggests that egg rejection is dependent on individual physiological states, and draws attention to the role of hormones as mediators of flexible antiparasitic responses. In this perspective article, I outline recent advances in our understanding of the proximate factors that mediate egg rejection. I also point out some areas where knowledge remains still lacking, especially those related to the development and maintenance of effective cognitive functions, the potential role of oxidative stress, immunological state, and developmental stressors. I propose new hypotheses that stimulate future research on behavioral host responses toward brood parasitism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Ruiz-Raya
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, GEA, Vigo 36310, Spain
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8
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Stratton JB, Dearborn DC. Nest sanitation behavior does not increase the likelihood of parasitic egg rejection in herring gulls. Curr Zool 2021; 67:675-682. [PMID: 34805545 PMCID: PMC8599063 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoab046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Birds’ behavioral response to brood parasitism can be influenced not only by evolution but also by context and individual experience. This could include nest sanitation, in which birds remove debris from their nests. Ultimately, nest sanitation behavior might be an evolutionary precursor to the rejection of parasitic eggs. Proximately, the context or experience of performing nest sanitation behavior might increase the detection or prime the removal of parasitic eggs, but evidence to date is limited. We tested incubation-stage nests of herring gulls Larus argentatus to ask whether nest sanitation increased parasitic egg rejection. In an initial set of 160 single-object experiments, small, red, blocky objects were usually rejected (18 of 20 nests), whereas life-sized, 3D-printed herring gull eggs were not rejected whether red (0 of 20) or the olive-tan base color of herring gull eggs (0 of 20). Next, we simultaneously presented a red, 3D-printed gull egg and a small, red block. These nests exhibited frequent nest sanitation (small, red block removed at 40 of 48 nests), but egg rejection remained uncommon (5 of those 40) and not significantly different from control nests (5 of 49) which received the parasitic egg but not the priming object. Thus, performance of nest sanitation did not shape individuals’ responses to parasitism. Interestingly, parents were more likely to reject the parasitic egg when they were present as we approached the nest to add the experimental objects. Depending on the underlying mechanism, this could also be a case of experience creating variation in responses to parasitism.
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9
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Li Q, Bi J, Wu J, Yang C. Impact of nest sanitation behavior on hosts' egg rejection: an empirical study and meta-analyses. Curr Zool 2021; 67:683-690. [PMID: 34805546 PMCID: PMC8598993 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoab057] [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: 02/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Egg rejection in birds is a specific adaptation toward avian brood parasitism, whereas nest sanitation is a general behavior for cleaning the nest and avoiding predation. However, both behaviors refer to the action of ejecting objects out of the nest, and nest sanitation has been proposed as a pre-adaptation for egg rejection. Here, we tested the eliciting effect of nest sanitation on egg rejection in the red-whiskered bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus, a potential host species that are sympatric with parasitic cuckoos. We conducted meta-analyses of previous studies on both nest sanitation and egg rejection, in order to evaluate the consistency of our conclusions. Our results showed that nest sanitation did not elicit egg rejection in P. jocosus. The conclusions concerning such an eliciting effect from previous studies were mixed, whereas the methodologies were inconsistent, making the studies unsuitable for comparisons. However, the ejection frequency of nest sanitation was consistently higher than the frequency of egg rejection across different host species or populations. These results suggest that nest sanitation, which is an ancient behavior, is more fundamental than egg rejection, but the effect of the former on the latter is complex and needs further study. Standardized methodologies and the integration of behavior, physiology, and modeling may provide better opportunities to explore the relationship between nest sanitation and egg rejection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qihong Li
- College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, 571158, China
| | - Jianli Bi
- College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, 571158, China
| | - Jiangwen Wu
- College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, 571158, China
| | - Canchao Yang
- College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, 571158, China
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10
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Ruiz-Raya F, Ibáñez-Álamo JD, Parenteau C, Chastel O, Soler M. Prolactin mediates behavioural rejection responses to avian brood parasitism. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:272569. [PMID: 34605904 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.240101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Adaptations resulting from co-evolutionary interactions between avian brood parasites and their hosts have been extensively studied, yet the physiological mechanisms underlying antiparasitic host defences remain little known. Prolactin, one of the main hormones involved in the regulation of avian parental behaviour, might play a key role in the orchestration of the host responses to avian brood parasitism. Given the positive association between prolactin and parental behaviour during incubation, decreasing prolactin levels are expected to facilitate egg-rejection decisions. We tested this prediction by implanting Eurasian blackbird (Turdus merula) females with an inhibitor of prolactin secretion, bromocriptine mesylate, to experimentally decrease their plasma prolactin levels. Bromocriptine mesylate-implanted individuals ejected mimetic model eggs at higher rates, and showed shorter latency to egg ejection, than placebo-treated birds. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence that behavioural host defences against avian brood parasitism are mediated by prolactin.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Charline Parenteau
- Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR7372 CNRS - Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France
| | - Olivier Chastel
- Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR7372 CNRS - Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France
| | - Manuel Soler
- Departamento de Zoología, Universidad de Granada, E-18071 Granada, Spain
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11
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Zhang J, Santema P, Li J, Yang L, Deng W, Kempenaers B. Host personality predicts cuckoo egg rejection in Daurian redstarts Phoenicurus auroreus. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20210228. [PMID: 34130501 PMCID: PMC8206684 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In species that are subject to brood parasitism, individuals often vary in their responses to parasitic eggs, with some rejecting the eggs while others do not. While some factors, such as host age (breeding experience), the degree of egg matching and the level of perceived risk of brood parasitism have been shown to influence host decisions, much of the variation remains unexplained. The host personality hypothesis suggests that personality traits of the host influence its response to parasitic eggs, but few studies have tested this. We investigated the relationship between two personality traits (exploration and neophobia) and a physiological trait (breathing rate) of the host, and egg-rejection behaviour in a population of Daurian redstarts Phoenicurus auroreus in northeast China. We first show that exploratory behaviour and the response to a novel object are repeatable for individual females and strongly covary, indicating distinct personality types. We then show that fast-exploring and less neophobic hosts were more likely to reject parasitic eggs than slow-exploring and more neophobic hosts. Variation in breathing rate-a measure of the stress-response-did not affect rejection behaviour. Our results demonstrate that host personality, along the bold-shy continuum, predicts the responses to parasitic eggs in Daurian redstarts, with bold hosts being more likely to reject parasitic eggs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinggang Zhang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Sciences and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.,Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
| | - Peter Santema
- Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
| | - Jianqiang Li
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Lixing Yang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Sciences and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Wenhong Deng
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Sciences and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Bart Kempenaers
- Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
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12
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Turner AM, Hauber ME. The American robin (
Turdus migratorius
): A focal species for anti‐parasitic egg rejection studies among hosts of the brown‐headed cowbird (
Molothrus ater
). Ethology 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Abbigail M. Turner
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior School of Integrative Biology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana IL USA
| | - Mark E. Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior School of Integrative Biology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana IL USA
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13
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Scharf HM, Abolins-Abols M, Stenstrom KH, Tolman DT, Schelsky WM, Hauber ME. Exposure to a mimetic or non-mimetic model avian brood parasite egg does not produce differential glucocorticoid responses in an egg-accepter host species. Gen Comp Endocrinol 2021; 304:113723. [PMID: 33539900 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2021.113723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2020] [Revised: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 01/22/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Avian obligate brood parasitism, a reproductive strategy where a parasite lays its egg into the nest of another species, imposes significant fitness costs upon host parents and their offspring. To combat brood parasitism, many host species recognize and reject foreign eggs (rejecters), but others are accepters that raise the parasitic progeny. Some accepter hosts may be unable to grasp or pierce parasitic eggs even if they recognize them as foreign eggs in the clutch, whereas other accepters may not have evolved the cognitive skillsets to recognize dissimilar eggs in the nest. Here we assessed the endocrine responses of an accepter host species to model parasitic eggs to address these two alternatives. We experimentally parasitized nests of a locally common host of the brood-parasitic brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater), the prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea; a cowbird-egg accepter), with a mimetic or non-mimetic model cowbird-sized egg. Our goal was to determine whether they perceived the non-mimetic egg as a greater stressor by measuring circulating corticosterone levels. We added eggs to nests during the incubation stage and obtained blood plasma samples from females on the nest 2 h later, using females with unmanipulated clutches as controls. Incubating females showed no differences in baseline plasma corticosterone levels between our different treatments. We conclude that exposure to foreign eggs does not activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis of prothonotary warbler hosts in this experimental paradigm.
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Affiliation(s)
- H M Scharf
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA.
| | - M Abolins-Abols
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA; Department of Biology, University of Louisville, KY, USA
| | - K H Stenstrom
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
| | - D T Tolman
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
| | - W M Schelsky
- Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
| | - M E Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA; Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA; Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (Institute for Advanced Study), Delmenhorst 27753, Germany
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14
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Hauber ME, Hoover JP, Rhodes OR, Ducay RL, Hanley D. The blunt pole is not a source of more salient recognition cues than the sharp pole for the rejection of model eggs by American robins (Turdus migratorius). JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE BIOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.25225/jvb.20111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mark E. Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; e-mail:
| | - Jeffrey P. Hoover
- Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
| | - Oliver R. Rhodes
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; e-mail:
| | - Rebecca L. Ducay
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; e-mail:
| | - Daniel Hanley
- Department of Biology, George Mason University, Fairfax, USA
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