Non-mimetic shiny cowbird nestlings escape discrimination by baywings in absence of host nest mates

Nestlings of obligate brood parasites must obtain resources from heterospecific hosts that are attuned to the solicitation behaviours of their own progeny. Failing to match the appropriate stimuli may result in suboptimal provisioning or even the starvation of parasite young. Parasitic nestlings cou...

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Autores principales: Rojas Ripari, Juan Manuel, Segura, Luciano Noel, Reboreda, Juan Carlos, De Marsico, Maria Cecilia
Formato: Articulo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/142625
Aporte de:
id I19-R120-10915-142625
record_format dspace
institution Universidad Nacional de La Plata
institution_str I-19
repository_str R-120
collection SEDICI (UNLP)
language Inglés
topic Ecología
Brood parasitism
Nestling discrimination
Coevolution
Host defences
Molothrus
Begging
spellingShingle Ecología
Brood parasitism
Nestling discrimination
Coevolution
Host defences
Molothrus
Begging
Rojas Ripari, Juan Manuel
Segura, Luciano Noel
Reboreda, Juan Carlos
De Marsico, Maria Cecilia
Non-mimetic shiny cowbird nestlings escape discrimination by baywings in absence of host nest mates
topic_facet Ecología
Brood parasitism
Nestling discrimination
Coevolution
Host defences
Molothrus
Begging
description Nestlings of obligate brood parasites must obtain resources from heterospecific hosts that are attuned to the solicitation behaviours of their own progeny. Failing to match the appropriate stimuli may result in suboptimal provisioning or even the starvation of parasite young. Parasitic nestlings could overcome it by sharing the nest with host young, as long as they are able to compete efficiently for parental feedings. Here, we examined if non-mimetic shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) nestlings reared alone fail to elicit sufficient parental care from the grayish baywing (Agelaioides badius), a host that discriminates between their own and parasitic nestlings based on species-specific begging cues. We manipulated baywing broods to assess the ability of shiny cowbird nestlings to elicit parental provisioning and survive without host nest mates. Host provisioning rates and survival did not differ between shiny cowbirds reared alone and host nestlings in singleton broods. Also, growth patterns of experimental nestlings reared alone were similar to those reported for shiny cowbirds reared alongside baywing young. Hence, we did not find support for the hypothesis that non-mimetic nestlings require the assistance of host nest mates to elicit sufficient parental care from its baywing host. Furthermore, we found that shiny cowbirds that were reared alone continued receiving care from baywings after fledging, unlike shiny cowbirds from mixed broods. Our results add evidence to the idea of opposing selective pressures on the evolution of nest mate acceptance in cowbirds and suggest context-dependent host’s discrimination abilities that deserve further investigation. The evolution of nest mate killing versus tolerance strategies is a long-standing question in the study of brood parasitism. Parasitic nestlings may benefit from sharing the nest with host young if they collectively induce more parental provisioning and the parasite can benefit from it. Host nest mates could also confer protection against discrimination when hosts respond preferentially to stimuli of their own kind. We examined this idea in a generalist brood parasite, the shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis), and a host able to discriminate species-specific begging cues. The results showed that shiny cowbirds reared alone performed well and circumvent host discrimination also after leaving the nest. Our study supports the existence of trade-offs on the evolution of nest mate killing behaviours and adds evidence that context-dependent host’s discrimination abilities similar to those observed towards parasitic eggs can be at play towards parasitic fledglings.
format Articulo
Articulo
author Rojas Ripari, Juan Manuel
Segura, Luciano Noel
Reboreda, Juan Carlos
De Marsico, Maria Cecilia
author_facet Rojas Ripari, Juan Manuel
Segura, Luciano Noel
Reboreda, Juan Carlos
De Marsico, Maria Cecilia
author_sort Rojas Ripari, Juan Manuel
title Non-mimetic shiny cowbird nestlings escape discrimination by baywings in absence of host nest mates
title_short Non-mimetic shiny cowbird nestlings escape discrimination by baywings in absence of host nest mates
title_full Non-mimetic shiny cowbird nestlings escape discrimination by baywings in absence of host nest mates
title_fullStr Non-mimetic shiny cowbird nestlings escape discrimination by baywings in absence of host nest mates
title_full_unstemmed Non-mimetic shiny cowbird nestlings escape discrimination by baywings in absence of host nest mates
title_sort non-mimetic shiny cowbird nestlings escape discrimination by baywings in absence of host nest mates
publishDate 2019
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/142625
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