Egg pecking and puncturing behaviors in shiny and screaming cowbirds: effects of eggshell strength and degree of clutch completion
Abstract: Shiny cowbirds (Molothrus bonariensis) are generalist brood parasites that use hosts varying in body and egg size. On the contrary, screaming cowbirds (M. rufoaxillaris), which are larger than shiny cowbirds, are host specialist that use mainly one host of similar body and egg size. Both p...
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| Acceso en línea: | https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_03405443_v71_n4_p_Cossa http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_03405443_v71_n4_p_Cossa |
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paper:paper_03405443_v71_n4_p_Cossa2023-06-08T15:34:05Z Egg pecking and puncturing behaviors in shiny and screaming cowbirds: effects of eggshell strength and degree of clutch completion Tuero, Diego Tomas Reboreda, Juan Carlos Fiorini, Vanina Dafne Brood parasitism Farming hypothesis Molothrus bonariensis Molothrus rufoaxillaris Reduction of competition hypothesis brood parasitism clutch size egg size eggshell generalist hypothesis testing nesting behavior passerine specialist Aves Molothrus Molothrus bonariensis Molothrus rufoaxillaris Troglodytes Abstract: Shiny cowbirds (Molothrus bonariensis) are generalist brood parasites that use hosts varying in body and egg size. On the contrary, screaming cowbirds (M. rufoaxillaris), which are larger than shiny cowbirds, are host specialist that use mainly one host of similar body and egg size. Both parasites peck and puncture eggs when visiting nests. Through puncturing eggs, cowbirds can reduce the competition for food their chicks face (reduction of competition hypothesis), but the same behavior could also be a mechanism to enforce host to renest when nests are found late in the nesting cycle (farming hypothesis). Eggshell strength increases the difficulty to puncture eggs and therefore may modulate egg-pecking behavior. To test these hypotheses, we studied the effect of the degree of clutch completion and egg size on egg-puncturing behavior. Moreover, we evaluated if morphological differences between cowbird species and eggshell strength affected egg-pecking behavior. We presented captive females a nest with complete (four eggs) or incomplete (one egg) clutches of house wren (small egg size, low eggshell strength), chalk-browed mockingbird (large egg size, intermediate eggshell strength), or shiny cowbird (medium egg size, high eggshell strength). The proportion of nests with punctured eggs was similar for complete and incomplete clutches. Cowbirds punctured more eggs in complete than in incomplete clutches, but in complete clutches, they did not destroy the entire clutch. There were no differences in the egg-pecking behavior between cowbird species, which pecked more frequently the eggs with the strongest eggshell. Our findings are consistent with the reduction of competition hypothesis. Significance statement: Brood parasitic birds do not build nests and raise their chicks. Instead, they lay eggs in nests of other species (hosts), which carry out all parental care. Some brood parasites, like the cowbirds, peck and puncture eggs when they visit host nests. This behavior may help to reduce the competition for food that their chicks face in the nest (reduction of competition hypothesis) or may enforce hosts to renest (farming hypothesis). We experimentally studied egg-pecking and egg-puncturing behaviors in the host generalist shiny cowbird and the host specialist screaming cowbird. We found that the degree of clutch completion and egg size modulate egg-puncturing behavior and eggshell strength modulates egg-pecking behavior. Our results indicate that by puncturing eggs, cowbirds reduce nest competition. © 2017, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Fil:Tuero, D.T. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Fil:Reboreda, J.C. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Fil:Fiorini, V.D. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. 2017 https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_03405443_v71_n4_p_Cossa http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_03405443_v71_n4_p_Cossa |
| 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 Farming hypothesis Molothrus bonariensis Molothrus rufoaxillaris Reduction of competition hypothesis brood parasitism clutch size egg size eggshell generalist hypothesis testing nesting behavior passerine specialist Aves Molothrus Molothrus bonariensis Molothrus rufoaxillaris Troglodytes |
| spellingShingle |
Brood parasitism Farming hypothesis Molothrus bonariensis Molothrus rufoaxillaris Reduction of competition hypothesis brood parasitism clutch size egg size eggshell generalist hypothesis testing nesting behavior passerine specialist Aves Molothrus Molothrus bonariensis Molothrus rufoaxillaris Troglodytes Tuero, Diego Tomas Reboreda, Juan Carlos Fiorini, Vanina Dafne Egg pecking and puncturing behaviors in shiny and screaming cowbirds: effects of eggshell strength and degree of clutch completion |
| topic_facet |
Brood parasitism Farming hypothesis Molothrus bonariensis Molothrus rufoaxillaris Reduction of competition hypothesis brood parasitism clutch size egg size eggshell generalist hypothesis testing nesting behavior passerine specialist Aves Molothrus Molothrus bonariensis Molothrus rufoaxillaris Troglodytes |
| description |
Abstract: Shiny cowbirds (Molothrus bonariensis) are generalist brood parasites that use hosts varying in body and egg size. On the contrary, screaming cowbirds (M. rufoaxillaris), which are larger than shiny cowbirds, are host specialist that use mainly one host of similar body and egg size. Both parasites peck and puncture eggs when visiting nests. Through puncturing eggs, cowbirds can reduce the competition for food their chicks face (reduction of competition hypothesis), but the same behavior could also be a mechanism to enforce host to renest when nests are found late in the nesting cycle (farming hypothesis). Eggshell strength increases the difficulty to puncture eggs and therefore may modulate egg-pecking behavior. To test these hypotheses, we studied the effect of the degree of clutch completion and egg size on egg-puncturing behavior. Moreover, we evaluated if morphological differences between cowbird species and eggshell strength affected egg-pecking behavior. We presented captive females a nest with complete (four eggs) or incomplete (one egg) clutches of house wren (small egg size, low eggshell strength), chalk-browed mockingbird (large egg size, intermediate eggshell strength), or shiny cowbird (medium egg size, high eggshell strength). The proportion of nests with punctured eggs was similar for complete and incomplete clutches. Cowbirds punctured more eggs in complete than in incomplete clutches, but in complete clutches, they did not destroy the entire clutch. There were no differences in the egg-pecking behavior between cowbird species, which pecked more frequently the eggs with the strongest eggshell. Our findings are consistent with the reduction of competition hypothesis. Significance statement: Brood parasitic birds do not build nests and raise their chicks. Instead, they lay eggs in nests of other species (hosts), which carry out all parental care. Some brood parasites, like the cowbirds, peck and puncture eggs when they visit host nests. This behavior may help to reduce the competition for food that their chicks face in the nest (reduction of competition hypothesis) or may enforce hosts to renest (farming hypothesis). We experimentally studied egg-pecking and egg-puncturing behaviors in the host generalist shiny cowbird and the host specialist screaming cowbird. We found that the degree of clutch completion and egg size modulate egg-puncturing behavior and eggshell strength modulates egg-pecking behavior. Our results indicate that by puncturing eggs, cowbirds reduce nest competition. © 2017, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. |
| author |
Tuero, Diego Tomas Reboreda, Juan Carlos Fiorini, Vanina Dafne |
| author_facet |
Tuero, Diego Tomas Reboreda, Juan Carlos Fiorini, Vanina Dafne |
| author_sort |
Tuero, Diego Tomas |
| title |
Egg pecking and puncturing behaviors in shiny and screaming cowbirds: effects of eggshell strength and degree of clutch completion |
| title_short |
Egg pecking and puncturing behaviors in shiny and screaming cowbirds: effects of eggshell strength and degree of clutch completion |
| title_full |
Egg pecking and puncturing behaviors in shiny and screaming cowbirds: effects of eggshell strength and degree of clutch completion |
| title_fullStr |
Egg pecking and puncturing behaviors in shiny and screaming cowbirds: effects of eggshell strength and degree of clutch completion |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Egg pecking and puncturing behaviors in shiny and screaming cowbirds: effects of eggshell strength and degree of clutch completion |
| title_sort |
egg pecking and puncturing behaviors in shiny and screaming cowbirds: effects of eggshell strength and degree of clutch completion |
| publishDate |
2017 |
| url |
https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_03405443_v71_n4_p_Cossa http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_03405443_v71_n4_p_Cossa |
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AT tuerodiegotomas eggpeckingandpuncturingbehaviorsinshinyandscreamingcowbirdseffectsofeggshellstrengthanddegreeofclutchcompletion AT reboredajuancarlos eggpeckingandpuncturingbehaviorsinshinyandscreamingcowbirdseffectsofeggshellstrengthanddegreeofclutchcompletion AT fiorinivaninadafne eggpeckingandpuncturingbehaviorsinshinyandscreamingcowbirdseffectsofeggshellstrengthanddegreeofclutchcompletion |
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1768541611990450176 |