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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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Fiorini, Vanina Dafne, Reboreda, Juan Carlos
Publicado:	2014
Materias:	Brood parasitism Egg morphology Mimus saturninus Molothrus bonariensis Multiple parasitism Parental investment Repeat parasitism
Acceso en línea:	https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_03405443_v_n_p1_Gloag http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_03405443_v_n_p1_Gloag
Aporte de:	Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA) de Universidad de Buenos Aires

id	paper:paper_03405443_v_n_p1_Gloag
record_format	dspace
spelling	paper:paper_03405443_v_n_p1_Gloag2023-06-08T15:34:06Z Shiny cowbirds share foster mothers but not true mothers in multiply parasitized mockingbird nests Fiorini, Vanina Dafne Reboreda, Juan Carlos Brood parasitism Egg morphology Mimus saturninus Molothrus bonariensis Multiple parasitism Parental investment Repeat parasitism 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. Fil:Fiorini, V.D. 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. 2014 https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_03405443_v_n_p1_Gloag http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_03405443_v_n_p1_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
spellingShingle	Brood parasitism Egg morphology Mimus saturninus Molothrus bonariensis Multiple parasitism Parental investment Repeat parasitism Fiorini, Vanina Dafne Reboreda, Juan Carlos 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
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.
author	Fiorini, Vanina Dafne Reboreda, Juan Carlos
author_facet	Fiorini, Vanina Dafne Reboreda, Juan Carlos
author_sort	Fiorini, Vanina Dafne
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_v_n_p1_Gloag http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_03405443_v_n_p1_Gloag
work_keys_str_mv	AT fiorinivaninadafne shinycowbirdssharefostermothersbutnottruemothersinmultiplyparasitizedmockingbirdnests AT reboredajuancarlos shinycowbirdssharefostermothersbutnottruemothersinmultiplyparasitizedmockingbirdnests
_version_	1768545232146661376

Shiny cowbirds share foster mothers but not true mothers in multiply parasitized mockingbird nests

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