A case of mixed brood of the Common Cuckoo and Daurain Redstart in a Daurain Redstart nest

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

The Auk ◽

10.1093/auk/122.2.530 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 122 (2) ◽

pp. 530-543 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

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).

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Nestlings of the common cuckoo do not mimic begging calls of two closely related Acrocephalus hosts

Animal Behaviour ◽

10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.01.005 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 161 ◽

pp. 89-94 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Peter Samaš ◽

Klára Žabková ◽

Tereza Petrusková ◽

Petr Procházka ◽

Milica Požgayová ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Common Cuckoo ◽

The Common

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Heterospecific alarm-call recognition in two warbler hosts of common cuckoos

Animal Cognition ◽

10.1007/s10071-019-01307-9 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 22 (6) ◽

pp. 1149-1157 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Jiangping Yu ◽

Hailin Lu ◽

Wei Sun ◽

Wei Liang ◽

Haitao Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alarm Call ◽

Alarm Calls ◽

Reed Warbler ◽

Cuculus Canorus ◽

Common Cuckoo ◽

Playback Experiments ◽

Call Recognition ◽

Accipiter Nisus ◽

Main Host ◽

The Common

Abstract Species facing similar selection pressures should recognize heterospecific alarm signals. However, no study has so far examined heterospecific alarm-call recognition in response to parasitism by cuckoos. In this study, we tested whether two sympatric host species of the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus, Oriental reed warbler Acrocephalus orientalis (ORW, main host), and black-browed reed warbler Acrocephalus bistrigiceps (BRW, rare host), could recognize each other’s alarm calls in response to cuckoos. Dummies of common cuckoo (parasite) and Eurasian sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus (predator) were used to induce and record alarm calls of the two warbler species, respectively. In the conspecific alarm-call playback experiments, ORW responded more strongly to cuckoo alarm calls than to sparrowhawk alarm calls, while BRW responded less strongly to cuckoo alarm calls than to sparrowhawk alarm calls. In the heterospecific alarm-call playback experiments, both ORW and BRW responded less strongly to cuckoo alarm calls than sparrowhawk alarm calls. BRW seemed to learn the association between parasite-related alarm calls of the ORW and the cuckoo by observing the process of ORW attacking cuckoos. In contrast, alarm calls of BRW to cuckoos were rarely recorded in most cases. BRW with low parasite pressure still developed recognition of heterospecific parasite-related alarm call. Unintended receivers in the same community should recognize heterospecific alarm calls precisely to extract valuable information.

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