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Jones TM, Di Giovanni AJ, Hauber ME, Ward MP. Ontogenetic effects of brood parasitism by the Brown-headed Cowbird on host offspring. Ecology 2023; 104:e3925. [PMID: 36423935 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Nest-sharer avian brood parasites do not evict or otherwise kill host chicks, but instead inflict a range of negative effects on their nestmates that are mediated by interactions between the parasite and host life history traits. Although many of the negative fitness effects of avian brood parasitism are well documented across diverse host species, there remains a paucity of studies that have examined the impacts of parasitism across the entirety of host ontogeny (i.e., from when an egg is laid until independence). More specifically, few studies have examined the impact of brood parasitism on the pre- and post-fledging development, physiology, behavior, and survival of host offspring. To help fill this knowledge gap, we assessed the effects of brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) across the ontogeny (incubation, nestling, and post-fledging period) of nine sympatrically breeding host species in central Illinois, USA; due to sample sizes, impacts on the post-fledging period were only examined in two of the nine species. Specifically, we examined the impact of brood parasitism on ontogenetic markers including the embryonic heart rate, hatching rate, nestling period length, nest survival, and offspring growth and development. Additionally, in species in which we found negative impacts of cowbird parasitism on host nestmate ontogeny, we examined whether the difference in adult size between parasites and their hosts and their hatching asynchrony positively predicted variation in host costs across these focal taxa. We found that costs of cowbird parasitism were most severe during early nesting stages (reduction in the host clutch or brood size) and were predicted negatively by host size and positively by incubation length. In contrast, we only found limited costs of cowbird parasitism on other stages of host ontogeny; critically, post-fledging survival did not differ between host offspring that fledged alongside cowbirds and those that did not. Our findings (i) highlight the direct costs of cowbird parasitism on host fitness, (ii) provide evidence for when (the stage) those costs are manifested, and (iii) may help to explain why many anti-cowbird defenses of hosts have evolved for protection from parasitism during the laying and incubation stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Todd M Jones
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, USA.,Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, USA.,Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Alexander J Di Giovanni
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, USA
| | - Mark E Hauber
- Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, USA.,Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, USA
| | - Michael P Ward
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, USA.,Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, USA
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Scharf HM, Schelsky WM, Chamberlain ML, Hauber ME. Host parent responses to heterospecific parasite nestling alarm calls are independent of past and current experience with experimental brood parasitism. Anim Cogn 2022; 25:1289-1298. [PMID: 35348917 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01612-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Revised: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Communication between parents and dependent offspring is critical not only during provisioning, but also in antipredator contexts. In altricial birds, a top cause of reproductive failure is nest predation, and alarm calls both by parents and chicks can serve to alert others and increase the likelihood of offspring escaping predation. Understanding the factors that determine the strength of parental antipredator responses to different nestling alarm calls can provide insight into parent-offspring recognition. The prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea), a host of the obligate brood parasite, the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater), never rejects cowbird young and raises the parasite together with its own offspring. To determine whether warbler parents learn cowbird nestling alarm calls, we presented experimentally parasitized or non-parasitized parents with playbacks of conspecific warbler, parasitic cowbird, and a harmless heterospecific control, eastern bluebird (Sialis sialis), nestling alarm calls. We recorded the latency to respond and the number of chips given by members of the resident warbler pair. We found that parents were most likely to respond to warbler nestling alarm calls, least likely to respond to bluebird calls, with a statistically intermediate likelihood of responding to cowbird calls. Critically, current and past parasitism status did not affect the likelihood of response to any playback or the number of chips given, however, currently parasitized parents had greater response latencies to playbacks than non-parasitized parents. These results suggest that warbler parents do not learn cowbird alarm calls from breeding experiences and, in turn, that cowbirds may employ a generalized, bet-hedging alarm call.
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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, 61801, USA.
| | - W M Schelsky
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61801, USA
- Prairie Research Institute, Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61820, USA
| | - M L Chamberlain
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61801, USA
| | - M E Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61801, USA
- Prairie Research Institute, Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61820, USA
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How does human disturbance affect brood parasitism and nest predation in hosts inhabiting a highly fragmented landscape? Glob Ecol Conserv 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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Wilson S, Saracco JF, Krikun R, Flockhart DTT, Godwin CM, Foster KR. Drivers of demographic decline across the annual cycle of a threatened migratory bird. Sci Rep 2018; 8:7316. [PMID: 29743651 PMCID: PMC5943453 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-25633-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2017] [Accepted: 04/18/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Migratory species are rapidly declining but we rarely know which periods of the annual cycle are limiting for most species. This knowledge is needed to effectively allocate conservation resources to the periods of the annual cycle that best promote species recovery. We examined demographic trends and response to human footprint for Canada warblers (Cardellina canadensis), a threatened Neotropical migrant, using range-wide data (1993–2016) from the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program on the breeding grounds. Declines in abundance were steepest in the eastern breeding region, followed by the western region. Breeding productivity did not decline in any region. In contrast, we observed declining recruitment in all regions, low apparent survival in the east and west, and a decline in apparent survival in the east. Abundance declined with increasing disturbance around MAPS stations. Between 1993 and 2009, the human footprint index on the breeding range increased by 0.11% in contrast to a 14% increase on the wintering range. Landscape-scale disturbance on the breeding grounds may influence abundance in some regions; however, the observed trends in demography and footprint suggests limitation during the non-breeding period as the likely driver of overall declines, particularly for eastern populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott Wilson
- Wildlife Research Division, Environment Canada, National Wildlife Research Centre, 1125 Colonel by Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0H3, Canada.
| | - James F Saracco
- The Institute for Bird Populations, PO Box 1346, Point Reyes Station, CA, 94956, USA
| | - Richard Krikun
- Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory, Box 1076, Slave Lake, AB, T0G2A0, Canada
| | - D T Tyler Flockhart
- Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory, Box 1076, Slave Lake, AB, T0G2A0, Canada.,University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Appalachian Laboratory, 301 Braddock Road, Frostburg, MD, 21532, USA
| | - Christine M Godwin
- Owl Moon Environmental Inc., 324 Killdeer Way, Fort McMurray, Alberta, T9K 0R3, Canada
| | - Kenneth R Foster
- Owl Moon Environmental Inc., 324 Killdeer Way, Fort McMurray, Alberta, T9K 0R3, Canada
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Soler M, de Neve L, Roldán M, Pérez-Contreras T, Soler JJ. Great spotted cuckoo nestlings have no antipredatory effect on magpie or carrion crow host nests in southern Spain. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0173080. [PMID: 28422953 PMCID: PMC5396876 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2015] [Accepted: 02/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Host defences against cuckoo parasitism and cuckoo trickeries to overcome them are a classic example of antagonistic coevolution. Recently it has been reported that this relationship may turn to be mutualistic in the case of the carrion crow (Corvus corone) and its brood parasite, the great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius), given that experimentally and naturally parasitized nests were depredated at a lower rate than non-parasitized nests. This result was interpreted as a consequence of the antipredatory properties of a fetid cloacal secretion produced by cuckoo nestlings, which presumably deters predators from parasitized host nests. This potential defensive mechanism would therefore explain the detected higher fledgling success of parasitized nests during breeding seasons with high predation risk. Here, in a different study population, we explored the expected benefits in terms of reduced nest predation in naturally and experimentally parasitized nests of two different host species, carrion crows and magpies (Pica pica). During the incubation phase non-parasitized nests were depredated more frequently than parasitized nests. However, during the nestling phase, parasitized nests were not depredated at a lower rate than non-parasitized nests, neither in magpie nor in carrion crow nests, and experimental translocation of great spotted cuckoo hatchlings did not reveal causal effects between parasitism state and predation rate of host nests. Therefore, our results do not fit expectations and, thus, do not support the fascinating possibility that great spotted cuckoo nestlings could have an antipredatory effect for host nestlings, at least in our study area. We also discuss different possibilities that may conciliate these with previous results, but also several alternative explanations, including the lack of generalizability of the previously documented mutualistic association.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Soler
- Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - Liesbeth de Neve
- Dep. Biology, Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
| | - María Roldán
- Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Tomás Pérez-Contreras
- Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Juan José Soler
- Departamento de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (CSIC), Almería, Spain
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Effect of Wind Turbine Proximity on Nesting Success in Shrub-nesting Birds. AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 2014. [DOI: 10.1674/0003-0031-172.2.317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Great spotted cuckoo fledglings are disadvantaged by magpie host parents when reared together with magpie nestlings. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-013-1648-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Pope TL, Morrison ML, Wilkins RN. Woodlands as quality breeding habitat for black-capped vireos. J Wildl Manage 2013. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Theresa L. Pope
- Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences; Texas A&M University; College Station TX 77843 USA
| | - Michael L. Morrison
- Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences; Texas A&M University; College Station TX 77843 USA
| | - R. Neal Wilkins
- Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources; College Station; TX 77843 USA
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The effects of experimental irrigation on plant productivity, insect abundance and the non-breeding season performance of a migratory songbird. PLoS One 2013; 8:e55114. [PMID: 23372825 PMCID: PMC3555873 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0055114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2012] [Accepted: 12/19/2012] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Migratory bird populations are often limited by food during the non-breeding season. Correlative evidence suggests that food abundance on territories varies among years in relation to rainfall, which affects plant productivity and arthropod biomass. At the Font Hill Nature Preserve in Jamaica, we used an irrigation experiment to test the hypothesis that rainfall affects the condition of wintering American redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla) via intermediate effects on plant productivity and arthropod abundance. Experimental plots were irrigated in late February and early March to simulate a mid-season pulse of 200 mm of rain. Irrigation maintained soil moisture levels near saturation and had immediate effects on plant productivity. Cumulative leaf abscission over the dry season was 50% lower on experimental plots resulting in greater canopy cover, and we observed significantly higher ground level shoot growth and the flushing of new leaves on about 58% of logwood (Haematoxylon campechianum) individuals. Arthropod biomass was 1.5 times higher on irrigated plots, but there was considerable inter-plot variability within a treatment and a strong seasonal decline in biomass. Consequently, we found no significant effect of irrigation on arthropod abundance or redstart condition. We suspect that the lack of an irrigation effect for taxa higher on the trophic chain was due to the small spatial scale of the treatment relative to the scale at which these taxa operate. Although redstart condition was not affected, we did observe turnover from subordinate to dominant territorial individuals on experimental plots suggesting a perceived difference in habitat quality that influenced individual behavior.
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Latif QS, Heath SK, Rotenberry JT. Effects of parents and Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) on nest predation risk for a songbird. Ecol Evol 2013; 2:3079-97. [PMID: 23301174 PMCID: PMC3539002 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2012] [Revised: 09/20/2012] [Accepted: 09/25/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Nest predation limits avian fitness, so ornithologists study nest predation, but they often only document patterns of predation rates without substantively investigating underlying mechanisms. Parental behavior and predator ecology are two fundamental drivers of predation rates and patterns, but the role of parents is less certain, particularly for songbirds. Previous work reproduced microhabitat-predation patterns experienced by Yellow Warblers (Setophaga petechia) in the Mono Lake basin at experimental nests without parents, suggesting that these patterns were driven by predator ecology rather than predator interactions with parents. In this study, we further explored effects of post-initiation parental behavior (nest defense and attendance) on predation risk by comparing natural versus experimental patterns related to territory density, seasonal timing of nest initiation, and nest age. Rates of parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) were high in this system (49% nests parasitized), so we also examined parasitism-predation relationships. Natural nest predation rates (NPR) correlated negatively with breeding territory density and nonlinearly (U-shaped relationship) with nest-initiation timing, but experimental nests recorded no such patterns. After adjusting natural-nest data to control for these differences from experimental nests other than the presence of parents (e.g., defining nest failure similarly and excluding nestling-period data), we obtained similar results. Thus, parents were necessary to produce observed patterns. Lower natural NPR compared with experimental NPR suggested that parents reduced predation rates via nest defense, so this parental behavior or its consequences were likely correlated with density or seasonal timing. In contrast, daily predation rates decreased with nest age for both nest types, indicating this pattern did not involve parents. Parasitized nests suffered higher rates of partial predation but lower rates of complete predation, suggesting direct predation by cowbirds. Explicit behavioral research on parents, predators (including cowbirds), and their interactions would further illuminate mechanisms underlying the density, seasonal, and nest age patterns we observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quresh S Latif
- Department of Biology, University of California Riverside, California
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Breeding success of a brood parasite is associated with social mating status of its host. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-012-1372-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Wilson S, LaDeau SL, Tøttrup AP, Marra PP. Range-wide effects of breeding- and nonbreeding-season climate on the abundance of a Neotropical migrant songbird. Ecology 2011; 92:1789-98. [PMID: 21939075 DOI: 10.1890/10-1757.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Geographic variation in the population dynamics of a species can result from regional variability in climate and how it affects reproduction and survival. Identifying such effects for migratory birds requires the integration of population models with knowledge of migratory connectivity between breeding and nonbreeding areas. We used Bayesian hierarchical models with 26 years of Breeding Bird Survey data (1982-2007) to investigate the impacts of breeding- and nonbreeding-season climate on abundance of American Redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla) across the species range. We focused on 15 populations defined by Bird Conservation Regions, and we included variation across routes and observers as well as temporal trends and climate effects. American Redstart populations that breed in eastern North America showed increased abundance following winters with higher plant productivity in the Caribbean where they are expected to overwinter. In contrast, western breeding populations showed little response to conditions in their expected wintering areas in west Mexico, perhaps reflecting lower migratory connectivity or differential effects of winter rainfall on individuals across the species range. Unlike the case with winter climate, we found few effects of temperature prior to arrival in spring (March-April) or during the nesting period (May-June) on abundance the following year. Eight populations showed significant changes in abundance, with the steepest declines in the Atlantic Northern Forest (-3.4%/yr) and the greatest increases in the Prairie Hardwood Transition (4%/yr). This study emphasizes how the effects of climate on populations of migratory birds are context dependent and can vary depending on geographic location and the period of the annual cycle. Such knowledge is essential for predicting regional variation in how populations of a species might vary in their response to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott Wilson
- Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC 20008, USA.
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Stumpf KJ, Theimer TC, Mcleod MA, Koronkiewicz TJ. Distance from riparian edge reduces brood parasitism of southwestern willow flycatchers, whereas parasitism increases nest predation risk. J Wildl Manage 2011. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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