Behavioral and Acoustic Responses of the Oriental Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis), at Egg and Nestling Stages, to the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)

Cuckoo nest parasites lay eggs in host nests and thereby transfer all reproduction costs to the hosts. This greatly reduces host fitness. Parasitism has selected for the evolution of anti-parasitic strategies in hosts, including nest defense. The dynamic risk assessment hypothesis holds that nest parasitism only threatens the nests during the egg stage, so hosts should reduce the level of defense against nest parasites after the egg stage. We studied the behavioral and acoustic responses of oriental reed warblers (Acrocephalus orientalis), during both the egg and nestling stages, toward the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus) and oriental turtle doves (Streptopelia orientalis). A. orientalis can visually distinguish cuckoos from sparrowhawks and doves, indicating that hawk mimicry did not work for the cuckoos. The behavioral response of hosts in the nestling stage was stronger than in the egg stage, which supports the offspring value hypothesis and suggests that cuckoos may also act as nest predators. However, there was no difference in the alarm calls A. orientalis produce in response to different invaders, indicating that different types of alarm calls may not contain specific information.

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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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Decoupled Acoustic and Visual Components in the Multimodal Signals of the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.3389/fevo.2021.725858 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Martina Esposito ◽

Maria Ceraulo ◽

Beniamino Tuliozi ◽

Giuseppa Buscaino ◽

Salvatore Mazzola ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Cuculus Canorus ◽

Common Cuckoo ◽

Po Plain ◽

Brood Parasites ◽

Multimodal Signals ◽

Reproduction Costs ◽

The Common ◽

A Site ◽

Selection Mechanisms

Because of its parasitic habits, reproduction costs of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) are mostly spent in pre-laying activities. Female costs are limited to searching host nests and laying eggs, whereas, males spend time in performing intense vocal displays, possibly with territorial purpose. This last aspect, together with a sexual plumage dimorphism, points to both intra- and inter-sexual selections operating within this species. One element triggering sexual selection is a differential fitness accrued by different phenotypes. Before analyzing possible sexual selection mechanisms operating in cuckoos, it is therefore necessary to verify whether there is a variability among male secondary characters by describing and quantifying them. Here we aimed to quantitatively characterize the main two potential candidates of sexual selection traits, i.e., calls and displays, shown by males at perches. During the 2019 breeding season, in a site within the Po Plain, we both audio and video recorded cuckoo males at five different perches. We analyzed acoustic variables as well as display sequences searching for potential correlations. We found a significant variation among calls that could be clustered into four vocal types. We also found that no visual displays were associated with vocal displays; cuckoo males were either vocal and motionless or soundless and active. We discuss our results under the perspective of the potential value of sexual selection in brood parasites and its role in its parasitic habit.

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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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Specific responses of cuckoo hosts to different alarm signals according to breeding stage: a test of the offspring value hypothesis

Current Zoology ◽

10.1093/cz/zoaa021 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 66 (6) ◽

pp. 649-655 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jiaojiao Wang ◽

Canchao Yang

Keyword(s):

Alarm Call ◽

Host Responses ◽

Alarm Calls ◽

Attack Behavior ◽

Brood Parasite ◽

Reed Warbler ◽

Defense Strategies ◽

Breeding Stage ◽

Accipiter Nisus ◽

Streptopelia Orientalis

Abstract The selective pressure exerted by avian brood parasites forces their hosts to evolve specific defense strategies. When subject to brood parasite attack, avian hosts will often emit alarm calls. To date, few studies have examined whether and how host responses to different alarm calls indicative of different enemies vary with the host’s breeding stage. We carried out alarm call playback experiments during both the egg and nestling stages of the oriental reed warbler Acrocephalus orientalis, a host of the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus. The playback exemplars were selected from recorded alarm calls of the warbler to the presence of common cuckoos, sparrowhawks Accipiter nisus, and oriental turtle doves Streptopelia orientalis, which represented brood parasite, predator, and harmless control, respectively. The results showed that the oriental reed warblers did not discriminate alarm calls issued to different intruder types, but the intensity of the response was significantly higher in the nestling stage than in the egg stage. Attack behavior related to sparrowhawk alarm calls was absent in the egg stage, but aggressive behavior increased dramatically and exceeded the attack frequency in response to the cuckoo alarm call in the nestling stage, implying a shift in the tradeoff between the parents’ own survival and the loss of offspring. Alarm calls attracted a larger number of conspecifics than members of other species. In general, the oriental reed warbler had consistently stronger responses to different alarm calls in the nestling stage than in the egg stage, supporting the offspring value hypothesis.

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