scholarly journals Cases of occasional interspecific brood parasitism and egg dumping in Hungary

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-141
Author(s):  
László Haraszthy
Keyword(s):  
Brood Parasitism ◽  
Brood Parasite ◽  
Coracias Garrulus ◽  
Passer Montanus ◽  
Egg Dumping ◽  
Interspecific Brood Parasitism ◽  
Sitta Europaea ◽  
Eurasian Tree Sparrow ◽  
The Common ◽  
European Roller

Abstract There are numerous publications in the ornithological literature on mixed-species broods, i.e. on cases when a species lays some or all of its eggs into the nests of other species. This phenomenon, known as brood parasitism, has not yet been studied in Hungary. Here, I use the term brood parasitism, but I could not separate cases of egg dumping, a reproductive error by females. Based on literature and my own observations, I found evidence for interspecific brood parasitism in 28 species breeding in Hungary, not including the cases of the obligate interspecific brood parasite, the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). Only one of these belongs to passerines, while in the rest of the cases, this phenomenon occurred in representatives of non-passerine families. However, cases of brood parasitism and nest parasitism have to be treated separately. The latter refers to cases when a species occupies a nest, usually a nesthole or nestbox, already containing eggs of another species, and lays its own eggs next to the foreign eggs. The present study provides data on European Roller (Coracias garrulus), Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus), Eurasian Hobby (Falco subbuteo), tit species (Parus, Cyanistes, Poecile spp.), Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) and Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus), but in all likelihood the number of species involved is much higher.

scholarly journals Brood parasitism in eusocial insects (Hymenoptera): role of host geographical range size and phylogeny

2019 ◽  
Vol 374 (1769) ◽  
pp. 20180203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jukka Suhonen ◽  
Jaakko J. Ilvonen ◽  
Tommi Nyman ◽  
Jouni Sorvari
Keyword(s):  
Brood Parasitism ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Geographical Range ◽  
Social Parasite ◽  
Brood Parasite ◽  
Social Parasites ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
Eusocial Insects ◽  
Interspecific Brood Parasitism ◽  
Logistic Regressions

Interspecific brood parasitism is common in many animal systems. Brood parasites enter the nests of other species and divert host resources for producing their own offspring, which can lead to strong antagonistic parasite–host coevolution. Here, we look at commonalities among social insect species that are victims of brood parasites, and use phylogenetic data and information on geographical range size to predict which species are most probably to fall victims to brood parasites in the future. In our analyses, we focus on three eusocial hymenopteran groups and their brood parasites: (i) bumblebees, (ii) Myrmica ants, and (iii) vespine and polistine wasps. In these groups, some, but not all, species are parasitized by obligate workerless inquilines that only produce reproductive-caste descendants. We find phylogenetic signals for geographical range size and the presence of parasites in bumblebees, but not in ants and wasps. Phylogenetic logistic regressions indicate that the probability of being attacked by one or more brood parasite species increases with the size of the geographical range in bumblebees, but the effect is statistically only marginally significant in ants. However, non-phylogenetic logistic regressions suggest that bumblebee species with the largest geographical range sizes may have a lower likelihood of harbouring social parasites than do hosts with medium-sized ranges. Our results provide new insights into the ecology and evolution of host–social parasite systems, and indicate that host phylogeny and geographical range size can be used to predict threats posed by social parasites, as well to design efficient conservation measures for both hosts and their parasites. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The coevolutionary biology of brood parasitism: from mechanism to pattern’.

scholarly journals Parasitic cuckoo catfish exploit parental responses to stray offspring

2019 ◽  
Vol 374 (1769) ◽  
pp. 20180412 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Polačik ◽  
M. Reichard ◽  
C. Smith ◽  
R. Blažek
Keyword(s):  
Brood Parasitism ◽  
Lake Tanganyika ◽  
Buccal Cavity ◽  
Brood Parasite ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
Parental Response ◽  
Interspecific Brood Parasitism ◽  
Late Developmental Stage ◽  
Parental Responses

Interspecific brood parasitism occurs in several independent lineages of birds and social insects, putatively evolving from intraspecific brood parasitism. The cuckoo catfish, Synodontis multipunctatus , the only known obligatory non-avian brood parasite, exploits mouthbrooding cichlid fishes in Lake Tanganyika, despite the absence of parental care in its evolutionary lineage (family Mochokidae). Cuckoo catfish participate in host spawning events, with their eggs subsequently collected and brooded by parental cichlids, though they can later be selectively rejected by the host. One scenario for the origin of brood parasitism in cuckoo catfish is through predation of cichlid eggs during spawning, eventually resulting in a spatial and temporal match in oviposition by host and parasite. Here we demonstrate experimentally that, uniquely among all known brood parasites, cuckoo catfish have the capacity to re-infect their hosts at a late developmental stage following egg rejection. We show that cuckoo catfish offspring can survive outside the host buccal cavity and re-infect parental hosts at a later incubation phase by exploiting the strong parental instinct of hosts to collect stray offspring. This finding implies an alternative evolutionary origin for cuckoo catfish brood parasitism, with the parental response of host cichlids facilitating its evolution. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The coevolutionary biology of brood parasitism: from mechanism to pattern’.

scholarly journals Egg Discrimination in the Yellowhammer

The Condor ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 405-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Procházka ◽  
Marcel Honza
Keyword(s):  
Brood Parasitism ◽  
Host Responses ◽  
Brood Parasite ◽  
Cuculus Canorus ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Egg Discrimination ◽  
Emberiza Citrinella ◽  
Interspecific Brood Parasitism ◽  
Egg Mimicry ◽  
A Minor

Abstract In a coevolutionary arms race between a brood parasite and its host, both species evolve adaptations and counteradaptations, such as egg mimicry and egg discrimination. The Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) is a minor host of the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) in Europe. We studied egg discrimination in the Yellowhammer in the Czech Republic where it is parasitized only occasionally. To investigate host responses to parasitic eggs, we added either a nonmimetic (blue) or a mimetic (conspecific) egg to 50 nests. The hosts rejected nonmimetic eggs at a higher rate (92%) than mimetic eggs (32%). Neither intraclutch variation nor contrast between mimetic and host eggs had a significant effect on rejection behavior. There is no evidence for intraspecific brood parasitism in this species. The ability to reject mimetic eggs has therefore most likely evolved as an adaptation against interspecific brood parasitism and may be the reason why the Yellowhammer is parasitized only occasionally. Discriminación de Huevos en Emberiza citrinella Resumen. En una carrera armamentista co-evolutiva entre un ave parásita y su hospedador es previsible que ambas especies desarrollen adaptaciones y contraadaptaciones tales como el ovomimetismo y la ovodiscriminación. Emberiza citrinella es un huésped menor de Cuculus canorus en Europa. Estudiamos la capacidad discriminatoria de los huevos, por parte de Emberiza citrinella, en la República Checa, donde la especie es parasitada sólo ocasionalmente. Con objeto de investigar la respuesta del hospedador a los huevos parásitos, añadimos un huevo no mimético (azul) o uno mimético (coespecífico) a 50 nidos. El hospedador rechazó los huevos no miméticos en una proporción más elevada (92%) que los miméticos (32%). Ni la variación de la apariencia del huevo dentro de la puesta, ni el contraste entre los huevos miméticos y los del hospedador, parecen tener algún efecto significativo en el comportamiento de rechazo. No hay evidencias de la existencia de parasitismo intraespecífico en esta especie. Por tanto, la habilidad de Emberiza citrinella para rechazar huevos miméticos probablemente ha evolucionado como una adaptación contra el parasitismo interespecífico y esta puede ser la razón de por qué la especie es parasitada sólo de manera ocasional.

scholarly journals Fast and furious: host aggression modulates behaviour of brood parasites

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Václav Jelínek ◽  
Michal Šulc ◽  
Gabriela Štětková ◽  
Marcel Honza
Keyword(s):  
Brood Parasitism ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Nest Defence ◽  
Great Reed Warbler ◽  
Acrocephalus Arundinaceus ◽  
Brood Parasite ◽  
Cuculus Canorus ◽  
Common Cuckoo ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
The Common

ABSTRACTAvian brood parasites pose a serious threat for hosts, substantially reducing their fitness which selects for the evolution of host defences. A classic example of a host frontline defence is mobbing which frequently includes contact attacking of brood parasites. Here, we investigated how the nest defence of a very aggressive great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) host influences the speed of egg-laying and egg-removing behaviour of its brood parasite – the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). We video-recorded 168 brood parasitic events at 102 active host nests and found that cuckoos avoided host mobbing in only 62% of cases. If hosts spotted the cuckoo at their nests, they almost always attacked it (in 91 of 104 cases), however, such attacks only rarely and temporarily prevented cuckoos from parasitizing (11 additional cases). When attacked, cuckoos parasitized host nests significantly faster and left them immediately. However, when not attacked, cuckoos frequently stayed at or near the nest suggesting that host aggression, rather than the risk of being spotted, influences the speed of brood parasitism in this species. Further, we found that cuckoos performed egg-removing behaviour in all parasitic events without regard to host aggression. As a result, cuckoos removed at least one egg during all brood parasitism events except those when an egg slipped from their beaks and fell back into the nest (in 9 of 73 cases). This indicates that egg-removing behaviour is not costly for the common cuckoo and is an essential part of its parasitism strategy, widening understanding of this currently unexplained behaviour.

Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon C. Barlow ◽  
Sheridan N. Leckie ◽  
Peter Pyle ◽  
Michael A. Patten
Keyword(s):  
Tree Sparrow ◽  
Passer Montanus ◽  
Eurasian Tree Sparrow

scholarly journals Host Recognition of Brood Parasites: Implications for Methodology in Studies of Enemy Recognition

The Auk ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 530-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomáš Grim
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Columba Livia ◽  
Host Recognition ◽  
Brood Parasite ◽  
Common Cuckoo ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
Accurate Picture ◽  
Rock Pigeon ◽  
The Common ◽  
Enemy Recognition

AbstractVarious studies have shown that experiments on nest defense and enemy recognition (e.g. recognition of adult brood parasites) can be confounded by many factors. However, no study has described a confounding effect of control dummy type. Here, I show experimentally that the choice of control dummy may influence the results of an experiment and lead to erroneous conclusions. I tested recognition abilities of the Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla), currently a host rarely used by the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). Blackcaps responded very differently to two kinds of control dummies: they ignored the Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula) dummy, but attacked the Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) dummy as frequently as they attacked the Common Cuckoo. The differing results may be explained by the fact that the Rock Pigeon is more similar to the Common Cuckoo than the Eurasian Blackbird is, and consequently elicited more aggressive behavior than the latter. Thus, absence of discrimination in enemy-recognition studies may reflect a methodological artifact resulting from varying abilities of particular hosts to discriminate along a continuum of recognition cues. This result has serious methodological implications for further research on enemy recognition and aggression in general: a control dummy should not be too similar to the dummy brood parasite; otherwise, the chance of detecting existing recognition abilities is low. Further, I argue that coevolution only increases pre-existing aggression in the particular host species. Therefore, increment analysis (assessing changes in host antiparasitic responses during the nesting cycle while controlling for background aggression to control dummies) provides a more accurate picture of hosts' recognition abilities than the traditional approach (when the total level of antiparasitic response is analyzed).

Gut microbiota in a host–brood parasite system: insights from common cuckoos raised by two warbler species

2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucie Schmiedová ◽  
Jakub Kreisinger ◽  
Milica Požgayová ◽  
Marcel Honza ◽  
Jean-François Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Acrocephalus Arundinaceus ◽  
Brood Parasite ◽  
Bacterial Strains ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
The Common ◽  
Animal Hosts ◽  
Bacterial Sources ◽  
Selection Of

ABSTRACT An animal's gut microbiota (GM) is shaped by a range of environmental factors affecting the bacterial sources invading the host. At the same time, animal hosts are equipped with intrinsic mechanisms enabling regulation of GM. However, there is limited knowledge on the relative importance of these forces. To assess the significance of host-intrinsic vs environmental factors, we studied GM in nestlings of an obligate brood parasite, the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), raised by two foster species, great reed warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) and Eurasian reed warblers (A. scirpaceus), and compared these with GM of the fosterers’ own nestlings. We show that fecal GM varied between cuckoo and warbler nestlings when accounting for the effect of foster/parent species, highlighting the importance of host-intrinsic regulatory mechanisms. In addition to feces, cuckoos also expel a deterrent secretion, which provides protection against olfactory predators. We observed an increased abundance of bacterial genera capable of producing repulsive volatile molecules in the deterrent secretion. Consequently, our results support the hypothesis that microbiota play a role in this antipredator mechanism. Interestingly, fosterer/parent identity affected only cuckoo deterrent secretion and warbler feces microbiota, but not that of cuckoo feces, suggesting a strong selection of bacterial strains in the GM by cuckoo nestlings.

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