Shiny cowbirds share foster mothers but not true mothers in multiply parasitized mockingbird nests
Obligate brood parasitic birds, such as cowbirds, evade parental care duties by laying their eggs in the nests of other species. Cowbirds are assumed to avoid laying repeatedly in the same nest so as to prevent intrabrood competition between their offspring. However, because searching for host nests...
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2014
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| Acceso en línea: | https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_03405443_v68_n4_p681_Gloag http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_03405443_v68_n4_p681_Gloag |
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paper:paper_03405443_v68_n4_p681_Gloag2023-06-08T15:34:03Z Shiny cowbirds share foster mothers but not true mothers in multiply parasitized mockingbird nests Brood parasitism Egg morphology Mimus saturninus Molothrus bonariensis Multiple parasitism Parental investment Repeat parasitism bird brood parasitism competition (ecology) conspecific evolutionarily stable strategy fitness host-parasitoid interaction image analysis nest predation parental care population genetics Aves Mimus saturninus Molothrus Molothrus bonariensis Obligate brood parasitic birds, such as cowbirds, evade parental care duties by laying their eggs in the nests of other species. Cowbirds are assumed to avoid laying repeatedly in the same nest so as to prevent intrabrood competition between their offspring. However, because searching for host nests requires time and energy, laying more than one egg per nest might be favoured where hosts are large and can readily rear multiple parasites per brood. Such 'repeat parasitism' by females would have important consequences for parasite evolution because young parasites would then incur indirect fitness costs from behaving selfishly. We investigated shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) parasitism of a large host, the chalk-browed mockingbird (Mimus saturninus), in a population where over 70 % of the parasitized mockingbird nests receive multiple cowbird eggs. We assessed egg maternity directly, using cameras at nests to film the laying of individually-marked females. We also supplemented video data with evidence from egg morphology, after confirming that each female lays eggs of a consistent appearance. From 133 eggs laid, we found that less than 5 % were followed by the same female visiting the nest to lay again or to puncture eggs. Multiple eggs in mockingbird nests were instead the result of different females, with up to eight individuals parasitizing a single brood. Thus, while cowbird chicks regularly share mockingbird nests with conspecifics, these are unlikely to be their maternal siblings. Our results are consistent with shiny cowbird females following a one-egg-per-nest rule, even where hosts can rear multiple parasitic young. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. 2014 https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_03405443_v68_n4_p681_Gloag http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_03405443_v68_n4_p681_Gloag |
| institution |
Universidad de Buenos Aires |
| institution_str |
I-28 |
| repository_str |
R-134 |
| collection |
Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA) |
| topic |
Brood parasitism Egg morphology Mimus saturninus Molothrus bonariensis Multiple parasitism Parental investment Repeat parasitism bird brood parasitism competition (ecology) conspecific evolutionarily stable strategy fitness host-parasitoid interaction image analysis nest predation parental care population genetics Aves Mimus saturninus Molothrus Molothrus bonariensis |
| spellingShingle |
Brood parasitism Egg morphology Mimus saturninus Molothrus bonariensis Multiple parasitism Parental investment Repeat parasitism bird brood parasitism competition (ecology) conspecific evolutionarily stable strategy fitness host-parasitoid interaction image analysis nest predation parental care population genetics Aves Mimus saturninus Molothrus Molothrus bonariensis Shiny cowbirds share foster mothers but not true mothers in multiply parasitized mockingbird nests |
| topic_facet |
Brood parasitism Egg morphology Mimus saturninus Molothrus bonariensis Multiple parasitism Parental investment Repeat parasitism bird brood parasitism competition (ecology) conspecific evolutionarily stable strategy fitness host-parasitoid interaction image analysis nest predation parental care population genetics Aves Mimus saturninus Molothrus Molothrus bonariensis |
| description |
Obligate brood parasitic birds, such as cowbirds, evade parental care duties by laying their eggs in the nests of other species. Cowbirds are assumed to avoid laying repeatedly in the same nest so as to prevent intrabrood competition between their offspring. However, because searching for host nests requires time and energy, laying more than one egg per nest might be favoured where hosts are large and can readily rear multiple parasites per brood. Such 'repeat parasitism' by females would have important consequences for parasite evolution because young parasites would then incur indirect fitness costs from behaving selfishly. We investigated shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) parasitism of a large host, the chalk-browed mockingbird (Mimus saturninus), in a population where over 70 % of the parasitized mockingbird nests receive multiple cowbird eggs. We assessed egg maternity directly, using cameras at nests to film the laying of individually-marked females. We also supplemented video data with evidence from egg morphology, after confirming that each female lays eggs of a consistent appearance. From 133 eggs laid, we found that less than 5 % were followed by the same female visiting the nest to lay again or to puncture eggs. Multiple eggs in mockingbird nests were instead the result of different females, with up to eight individuals parasitizing a single brood. Thus, while cowbird chicks regularly share mockingbird nests with conspecifics, these are unlikely to be their maternal siblings. Our results are consistent with shiny cowbird females following a one-egg-per-nest rule, even where hosts can rear multiple parasitic young. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. |
| title |
Shiny cowbirds share foster mothers but not true mothers in multiply parasitized mockingbird nests |
| title_short |
Shiny cowbirds share foster mothers but not true mothers in multiply parasitized mockingbird nests |
| title_full |
Shiny cowbirds share foster mothers but not true mothers in multiply parasitized mockingbird nests |
| title_fullStr |
Shiny cowbirds share foster mothers but not true mothers in multiply parasitized mockingbird nests |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Shiny cowbirds share foster mothers but not true mothers in multiply parasitized mockingbird nests |
| title_sort |
shiny cowbirds share foster mothers but not true mothers in multiply parasitized mockingbird nests |
| publishDate |
2014 |
| url |
https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_03405443_v68_n4_p681_Gloag http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_03405443_v68_n4_p681_Gloag |
| _version_ |
1768543848508686336 |