Rejection of artificial cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) eggs in relation to variation in egg appearance among reed warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)
Open Access
- 22 July 1999
- journal article
- Published by The Royal Society in Proceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences
- Vol. 266 (1427), 1483-1488
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1999.0804
Abstract
Passerines that are exposed to brood parasitism can evolve reduced intraclutch variation in egg appearance to facilitate recognition and rejection of the parasitic egg. This has been shown to be true for European passerine species that are assumed to have participated in an evolutionary arms race with the cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). However, few investigations have been carried out with the aim of finding out whether there is a relationship between these two traits within a species. In this study, we compare the level of intraclutch variation in egg appearance and the rejection of an unlike parasitic egg within a population of reed warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) in the south-eastern part of the Czech Republic. We parasitized reed warbler nests with an artificial non–mimetic cuckoo egg, and then monitored the reaction of the hosts. In 27 out of 48 nests (56.3%) the parasitic egg was rejected. The rejecter pairs had a statistically significantly lower intraclutch variation in egg appearance than the acceptor pairs. We discuss possible explanations for the observed relationship between rejection of unlike eggs and intraclutch variation in egg appearance within this population of reed warblers. The results are consistent with the evolutionary arms race hypothesis, but the intermediate rejection rate found in this population could also be maintained by an equilibrium between acceptors and rejecters due to rejection costs.Keywords
This publication has 36 references indexed in Scilit:
- Attractive non‐mimetic stimuli in Cuckoo Cuculus canorus eggsIbis, 1999
- Costs of Cuckoo Cuculus canorus Parasitism to Reed Warblers Acrocephalus scirpaceusJournal of Avian Biology, 1998
- Why Do All Host Species Not Show Defense against Avian Brood Parasitism: Evolutionary Lag or Equilibrium?The American Naturalist, 1998
- Why Are Cuckoos Host Specific?Oikos, 1990
- Cuckoos versus reed warblers: Adaptations and counteradaptationsAnimal Behaviour, 1988
- Evolutionary lag versus bill-size constraints: a comparative study of the acceptance of cowbird eggs by old hostsEvolutionary Ecology, 1988
- Arms races between and within speciesProceedings of the Royal Society of London. B. Biological Sciences, 1979
- Parasitism and Nest Predation in Parasitic CuckoosThe American Naturalist, 1979
- Genetics of Cuckoo Egg PolymorphismNature, 1966
- Genetic studies in poultryJournal of Genetics, 1933