Nest defence by Magpies(Pica pica) and the brood parasitic Great Spotted Cuckoos(Clamator glandarius) in parasitized and unparasitized nests

1999 ◽  
Vol 140 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Soler ◽  
Juan Gabriel Martínez ◽  
Juan José Soler
Keyword(s):  
Nest Defence ◽  
Pica Pica ◽  
Clamator Glandarius

Preferential allocation of food by magpies Pica pica to great spotted cuckoo Clamator glandarius chicks

1995 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Soler ◽  
Juan Gabriel Martinez ◽  
Juan Jose Soler ◽  
Anders Pape Møller
Keyword(s):  
Pica Pica ◽  
Clamator Glandarius

Begging behaviour and its energetic cost in great spotted cuckoo and magpie host chicks

1999 ◽  
Vol 77 (11) ◽  
pp. 1794-1800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Soler ◽  
Juan J Soler ◽  
Juan G Martínez ◽  
Juan Moreno
Keyword(s):  
Communication Theory ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Food Delivery ◽  
Energetic Cost ◽  
Pica Pica ◽  
Doubly Labelled Water ◽  
Clamator Glandarius ◽  
Begging Behaviour ◽  
Daily Energy ◽  
Main Factors

Begging is one of the main factors governing food delivery to chicks by adult birds and it is of great importance in studies of biological communication theory. Many theoretical models have been proposed to explain the evolution of this noisy and conspicuous behaviour, all of which assume that begging activity is energetically costly. We show that both great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) brood-parasitic chicks and magpie (Pica pica) host chicks ceased to beg after ingesting enough food, and that great spotted cuckoo chicks emitted more begging calls and begged for much longer than did magpie chicks. Using the doubly labelled water method to measure the daily energy expenditure of begging and nonbegging chicks in the laboratory, we show that begging behaviour consumes only a small quantity of oxygen compared with other avian activities usually assumed to be energetically costly.

scholarly journals Great spotted cuckoos show dynamic patterns of host selection during the breeding season. The importance of laying stage and parasitism status of magpie nests

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 467-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Soler ◽  
Tomás Pérez-Contreras ◽  
Juan José Soler
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Host Selection ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Brood Parasite ◽  
Pica Pica ◽  
Clamator Glandarius ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
Host Interaction

Abstract Avian brood parasites depend entirely on their hosts to raise their nestlings until independence. Thus, parasite females should select suitable host nests for egg laying according to traits that enhance offspring survival. The availability of nests of certain characteristics influencing the survival of parasitic offspring is, however, temporally dynamic and, thus, patterns of host selection should be evaluated considering characteristics of available host nests the day of parasitism. This allows detecting possible seasonal changes and, therefore, a more realistic picture of host selection by brood parasites. In this paper, we adopt such a new approach and consider daily availability of magpie (Pica pica) host nests at different breeding stage that were or were not parasitized by the great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius). Theory predicts that cuckoos should select host nests at the laying stage. Accordingly, we detected that cuckoos preferred to parasitize magpie nests at the laying stage but, mainly, those that already harbored one or two cuckoo eggs, which may seem counterintuitive. We also showed that patterns of host selection by cuckoos varied during the breeding season, which implies that brood parasite–host interaction is dynamic depending on phenology. These patterns are hidden when not considering the temporally dynamic nature of the availability of host nests of characteristics of interest. We discuss the importance of such patterns and considering diary hosts nests availability for detecting them.

scholarly journals Evolution of tolerance by magpies to brood parasitism by great spotted cuckoos

2010 ◽  
Vol 278 (1714) ◽  
pp. 2047-2052 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Soler ◽  
D. Martín-Gálvez ◽  
J. G. Martínez ◽  
M. Soler ◽  
D. Canestrari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brood Parasitism ◽  
Parasite Burden ◽  
Pica Pica ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Sympatric Populations ◽  
Evolutionary Patterns ◽  
Clamator Glandarius ◽  
Evolution Of Tolerance ◽  
Rejection Rates

Hosts may use two different strategies to ameliorate negative effects of a given parasite burden: resistance or tolerance. Although both resistance and tolerance of parasitism should evolve as a consequence of selection pressures owing to parasitism, the study of evolutionary patterns of tolerance has traditionally been neglected by animal biologists. Here, we explore geographical covariation between tolerance of magpies ( Pica pica ) and brood parasitism by the great spotted cuckoo ( Clamator glandarius ) in nine different sympatric populations. We estimated tolerance as the slope of the regression of number of magpie fledglings (i.e. host fitness) on number of cuckoo eggs laid in non-depredated nests (which broadly equals parasite burden). We also estimated prevalence of parasitism and level of host resistance (i.e. rejection rates of mimetic model eggs) in these nine populations. In accordance with the hypothetical role of tolerance in the coevolutionary process between magpies and cuckoos we found geographical variation in tolerance estimates that positively covaried with prevalence of parasitism. Levels of resistance and tolerance were not associated, possibly suggesting the lack of a trade-off between the two kinds of defences against great spotted cuckoo parasitism for magpies. We discuss the results in the framework of a mosaic of coevolutionary interactions along the geographical distribution of magpies and great spotted cuckoos for which we found evidence that tolerance plays a major role.

EFFECT OF GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO PRESENCE ON MAGPIE REJECTION BEHAVIOUR

Behaviour ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 137 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Soler ◽  
Anders Pape Moller ◽  
Juan Jose Soler
Keyword(s):  
Egg Rejection ◽  
Pica Pica ◽  
Conditional Response ◽  
Clamator Glandarius ◽  
Treatment Groups

AbstractSoler & Moller (1990) reported that egg rejection of great spotted cuckoo Clamator glandarius eggs by magpies Pica pica varies between populations depending on the duration of sympatry. Here, we test experimentally the idea that differences in ejection rates between areas of presumably different duration of sympatry could be due to a conditional response by magpies to the presence of adult parasites near the nest. The rate of ejection of mimetic cuckoo egg models was identical in both treatment groups, independently of whether or not the cuckoo was presented at the same time as the model egg. Thus, we conclude that the presence of a great spotted cuckoo near the magpie nest does not increase the probability of egg rejection.

scholarly journals Oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis) nest defence behaviour towards brood parasites and nest predators

Behaviour ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 152 (12-13) ◽  
pp. 1601-1621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donglai Li ◽  
Hongwei Wei ◽  
Zhengwang Zhang ◽  
Wei Liang ◽  
Bård G. Stokke
Keyword(s):  
Nest Defence ◽  
Pica Pica ◽  
Common Cuckoo ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
Accipiter Nisus ◽  
Specific Variation ◽  
Defence Behaviour ◽  
The Common ◽  
Defence Strategies ◽  
Nest Predator

Brood parasites and predators pose different threats to passerines that may favour the evolution of enemy-specific defence strategies. Furthermore, potential sex-specific variation in parental investment may be manifested in differences between male and female nest defence behaviour. We investigated these hypotheses in Oriental reed warblers (Acrocephalus orientalis), by recording sex- and stage-specific (nests with eggs or nestlings) responses to stuffed dummies placed at their nests. Warblers showed the highest level of aggression to the co-occurring parasite, the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), colour morph (grey), but showed reluctance to mob or attack the co-occurring nest predator, the magpie (Pica pica). There was a sex difference in rate of body attacks towards rufous morph common cuckoo, sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) (locally absent parasite and predator, respectively) and the spotted dove (Streptopelia chinensis) (locally present, harmless species), with females showing better ability to distinguish between these species than males.

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