Conflict between egg recognition and egg rejection decisions in common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) hosts

Given the high costs of avian obligate brood parasitism, host individuals are selected to reject parasitic eggs they recognize as foreign. We show that rejection may not necessarily follow egg discrimination when selective removal of the parasitic egg is difficult. We studied egg rejection behaviour in a small host of the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus , the eastern olivaceous warbler Hippolais pallida , by experimental parasitism with model and real non-mimetic cuckoo eggs and video recordings of host behaviour. Hosts pecked 87 per cent (20 out of 23) of the model eggs but eventually accepted 43.5 per cent (10 out of 23) of them. A similar pattern was found for real cuckoo eggs, which were all pecked, but as many as 47 per cent (7 out of 15) of them were accepted. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a cuckoo host discriminating against real parasitic eggs but often accepting them. Our results also show that in host species experiencing difficulties in performing puncture ejection, non-mimetic cuckoo eggs may avoid rejection by means of their unusually high structural strength.

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Egg Rejection in Marsh Warblers (Acrocephalus Palustris) Heavily Parasitized by Common Cuckoos (Cuculus Canorus)

The Auk ◽

10.1093/auk/123.2.419 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 123 (2) ◽

pp. 419-430 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Anton Antonov ◽

Bård G. Stokke ◽

Arne Moksnes ◽

Eivin Røskaft

Keyword(s):

Rejection Rate ◽

Host Population ◽

Arms Race ◽

Egg Rejection ◽

Cuculus Canorus ◽

Common Cuckoo ◽

Recognition Ability ◽

Acrocephalus Palustris ◽

High Rejection Rate ◽

Host Parasite

Abstract In the coevolutionary “arms race” between Common Cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) and their hosts, several adaptations and counter-adaptations have evolved. Here, we investigated natural parasitism and host sensitivity to egg rejection in Marsh Warblers (Acrocephalus palustris) in Bulgaria. The level of Common Cuckoo parasitism was high (28%), and average mimicry of Common Cuckoo eggs was good. Experimental parasitism with four egg-types that showed various degrees of mimicry of the host eggs revealed a generally high rejection rate of foreign eggs (37.5–100%). In addition, naturally laid Common Cuckoo eggs were rejected at a moderate rate (50%). The Marsh Warbler's ability to reject foreign eggs was strongly dependent on the degree of mimicry of the parasite egg but apparently not on differences in size between host and foreign eggs. Furthermore, intraclutch variation in host egg appearance was not related to the probability of egg rejection. The Marsh Warbler's highly developed egg-recognition ability and the good mimicry of Common Cuckoo eggs suggests that this poorly known host-parasite arms race has reached an advanced stage. The present study provides new insight into variables that are important for egg rejection in a heavily parasitized host population. Rechazo de Huevos en Nidos de Acrocephalus palustris Fuertemente Parasitados por Cuculus canorus

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No change in common cuckoo Cuculus canorus parasitism and great reed warblers’ Acrocephalus arundinaceus egg rejection after seven decades

Journal of Avian Biology ◽

10.1111/jav.00673 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 46 (6) ◽

pp. 570-576 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Anikó Zölei ◽

Miklós Bán ◽

Csaba Moskát

Keyword(s):

Acrocephalus Arundinaceus ◽

Egg Rejection ◽

Cuculus Canorus ◽

Common Cuckoo

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Egg rejection and egg recognition mechanisms in Oriental Reed Warblers

Avian Research ◽

10.1186/s40657-021-00283-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Laikun Ma ◽

Wei Liang

Keyword(s):

Sexual Difference ◽

Soft Clay ◽

Egg Rejection ◽

Egg Recognition ◽

Cuculus Canorus ◽

Host Nest ◽

Recognition Mechanism ◽

Egg Incubation ◽

Sexual Conflicts ◽

Recognition Ability

Abstract Background Nest parasitism by cuckoos (Cuculus spp.) results in enormous reproductive failure and forces hosts to evolve antiparasitic strategies, i.e., recognition of own eggs and rejection of cuckoo eggs. There are often sexual conflicts between male and female individuals in the expression of antiparasitic behavior due to the differences in reproductive inputs and division of labor. Methods By adding a foreign egg made of blue soft clay to the host nest during early incubation period in the field, and by removing several host eggs and adding experimental eggs to control the proportion of two egg types in the nest, we examined egg rejection ability, egg recognition mechanism and sexual difference in egg rejection of the Oriental Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis), one of the major hosts of Common Cuckoos (Cuculus canorus). Results Our results indicated that Oriental Reed Warblers can recognize and reject nearly 100% (73/75) of the non-mimetic eggs made of blue soft clay, and they could reject foreign eggs with 100% accuracy, regardless of the ratio of experimental eggs and its own eggs in the nest. Furthermore, all cases of egg rejections recorded by videos were only carried out by females. Conclusions Oriental Reed Warblers have a high egg recognition ability and show a true recognition mechanism. Only female warblers perform egg rejection, suggesting that the sex for host egg incubation seems to play an important role in the evolution of egg recognition mechanisms.

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Break-down of arms race between the red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio) and common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)

Behaviour ◽

10.1163/156853904322890843 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 141 (2) ◽

pp. 245-262 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Csaba Moskát ◽

Péter Lovászi

Keyword(s):

Low Frequency ◽

Arms Race ◽

Great Reed Warbler ◽

Egg Recognition ◽

Cuculus Canorus ◽

Common Cuckoo ◽

Lanius Collurio ◽

High Aggression ◽

The Common ◽

High Level

AbstractThe red-backed shrike Lanius collurio once was parasitised by the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus in low frequency until the late 1960s in Hungary, but no case of parasitism is known from the last three or four decades. The cuckoo most probably abandoned this host species because its arms race had defeated, which may be indicated by the high level egg recognition and rejection ability of shrikes. However, mimicry of the cuckoo eggs in the last known cases of parasitism was significantly lower than between cuckoo eggs and host eggs collected from great reed warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus nests within the same period. This suggests that red-backed shrikes won the arms race leaving no chance for cuckoos to develop better mimicry for their eggs. We tested these findings with experimentally induced parasitism using two types of real eggs: red-backed shrikes rejected 57.6% of the foreign conspecific eggs, but rejected 93.3% of the real cuckoo eggs transferred form nests of great reed warblers. This high level of rejection against real cuckoo eggs shows that there is no chance for presently occurring cuckoos to reparasitise red-backed shrikes in Hungary. Experimental eggs rejected by shrikes had lower mimicry than the eggs which were accepted, but intraclutch variation did not differ between accepters and rejecters. Hosts' aggression was significantly higher against the stuffed cuckoo than against the control species, the collared dove Streptopelia decaocto, and it was the least against female red-backed shrikes. Red-backed shrikes high aggression against cuckoo dummies also showed a highly developed antiparasite adaptation.

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Does experimentally simulated presence of a common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) affect egg rejection and breeding success in the red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio)?

acta ethologica ◽

10.1007/s10211-021-00362-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Piotr Tryjanowski ◽

Artur Golawski ◽

Mariusz Janowski ◽

Tim H. Sparks

Keyword(s):

Breeding Success ◽

Brood Parasitism ◽

Interaction Analysis ◽

Egg Rejection ◽

Cuculus Canorus ◽

Common Cuckoo ◽

Host Nest ◽

Lanius Collurio ◽

The Common ◽

Experimental Treatments

AbstractProviding artificial eggs is a commonly used technique to understand brood parasitism, mainly by the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). However, the presence of a cuckoo egg in the host nest would also require an earlier physical presence of the common cuckoo within the host territory. During our study of the red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio), we tested two experimental approaches: (1) providing an artificial “cuckoo” egg in shrike nests and (2) additionally placing a stuffed common cuckoo with a male call close to the shrike nest. We expected that the shrikes subject to the additional common cuckoo call stimuli would be more sensitive to brood parasitism and demonstrate a higher egg rejection rate. In the years 2017–2018, in two locations in Poland, a total of 130 red-backed shrike nests were divided into two categories: in 66 we added only an artificial egg, and in the remaining 64 we added not only the egg, but also presented a stuffed, calling common cuckoo. Shrikes reacted more strongly if the stuffed common cuckoo was present. However, only 13 incidences of egg acceptance were noted, with no significant differences between the locations, experimental treatments or their interaction. Analysis of breeding success revealed significant differences between the locations, between experimental treatments and their interaction, which suggests a strong location effect. The red-backed shrike is an efficient rejector of foreign eggs. It would be interesting to see how similar tests affect hosts that have much higher rates of brood parasitism and egg acceptance.

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Cuckoo chicks evicting their nest mates: coincidental observations by Edward Jenner in England and Antoine Joseph Lottinger in France

Archives of Natural History ◽

10.3366/anh.2011.0030 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 220-228 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Spencer G. Sealy ◽

Mélanie F. Guigueno

Keyword(s):

Royal Society ◽

Cuculus Canorus ◽

Common Cuckoo ◽

Cuckoo Chick ◽

The Common ◽

Made In ◽

Royal Society Of London

For centuries, naturalists were aware that soon after hatching the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) chick became the sole occupant of the fosterer's nest. Most naturalists thought the adult cuckoo returned to the nest and removed or ate the fosterer's eggs and young, or the cuckoo chick crowded its nest mates out of the nest. Edward Jenner published the first description of cuckoo chicks evicting eggs and young over the side of the nest. Jenner's observations, made in England in 1786 and 1787, were published by the Royal Society of London in 1788. Four years before Jenner's observations, in 1782, Antoine Joseph Lottinger recorded eviction behaviour in France and published his observations in Histoire du coucou d'Europe, in 1795. The importance of Lottinger's and Jenner's observations is considered together.

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Analysis of genetic differentiation of host races of the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus using mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA variation

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.1996.0015 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 263 (1366) ◽

pp. 89-96 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Keyword(s):

Genetic Differentiation ◽

Microsatellite Dna ◽

Cuculus Canorus ◽

Common Cuckoo ◽

Host Races ◽

Dna Variation ◽

The Common

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The Perceptual and Cognitive Processes That Govern Egg Rejection in Hosts of Avian Brood Parasites

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.3389/fevo.2021.702934 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel Hanley ◽

Samantha L. Rutledge ◽

Juliana Villa

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Processing ◽

Cognitive Processes ◽

Selective Pressure ◽

Null Model ◽

Egg Rejection ◽

Egg Recognition ◽

Brood Parasites ◽

The Past ◽

The Cost ◽

Receptor Noise

Hosts of avian brood parasites are under intense selective pressure to prevent or reduce the cost of parasitism. Many have evolved refined egg discrimination abilities, which can select for eggshell mimicry in their parasite. A classic assumption underlying these coevolutionary dynamics is that host egg recognition depends on the perceivable difference between their own eggs and those of their parasite. Over the past two decades, the receptor noise-limited (RNL) model has contributed to our understanding of these coevolutionary interactions by providing researchers a method to predict a host’s ability to discriminate a parasite’s egg from its own. Recent research has shown that some hosts are more likely to reject brown eggs than blue eggs, regardless of the perceived differences to their own. Such responses suggest that host egg recognition may be due to perceptual or cognitive processes not currently predictable by the RNL model. In this perspective, we discuss the potential value of using the RNL model as a null model to explore alternative perceptual processes and higher-order cognitive processes that could explain how and why some hosts make seemingly counter-intuitive decisions. Further, we outline experiments that should be fruitful for determining the perceptual and cognitive processing used by hosts for egg recognition tasks.

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