Individual experience as a key to success for the cuckoo catfish brood parasitism
Nature Communications, 2022 The importance of learning for brood parasites is explored using cuckoo catfish. The catfish increase their parasitism success as they gain experience, mainly by improving their social coordination and timing of intrusions to cichlid host spawnings.
Holger Zimmermann +3 more
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The evolution of cuckoo parasitism: a comparative analysis [PDF]
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 2002 Cuckoos (family Cuculidae) show the highest diversity of breeding strategies within one bird family (parental care, facultative and obligate brood parasites). We used independent contrasts from two phylogenies to examine how this variation was related to 13 ecological and life-history variables.
Krüger, Oliver, Davies, N. B.
openaire +5 more sources
Video evidence that cuckoos farm their hosts by ejecting nestlings [PDF]
Ecology and EvolutionWhen host nests are scarce, avian brood parasites would benefit from behaviours that increase the availability of suitable nests. Several studies reported ejection of host nestlings from nests by brood parasites; however, whether brood parasites do so to
Jinggang Zhang +4 more
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Reactions of wintering passerines to male calls of the European cuckoo Cuculus canorus [PDF]
Scientific ReportsThe reaction of birds to the nest parasite, the European cuckoo Cuculus canorus, has been the subject of extensive testing in various aspects. However, while the cuckoo is a long-distance migrant, some of its hosts are sedentary species.
Piotr Tryjanowski +3 more
doaj +2 more sources
Divergent Egg-Rejection Strategies Between Laying and Incubation Periods in the Green-Backed Tit (<i>Parus monticolus</i>). [PDF]
Ecol EvolOur results demonstrate that green‐backed tits have evolved independent adaptive responses to distinct selective pressures: nest predation during egg‐laying and brood parasitism during incubation. This study provides new insights into the plasticity of host defenses and suggests that species with egg‐covering behaviors may develop specialized anti ...
Ye P, Yang C.
europepmc +2 more sources
Dynamics of evolutionary succession and coordination between opposite adaptations in cuckoo hosts under antagonistic coevolution [PDF]
Communications BiologyAdaptations are driven by specific natural selection pressures throughout biological evolution. However, these cannot inherently align with future shifts in selection dynamics, thus manifesting in opposing directions.
Canchao Yang, Ziqi Zhang
doaj +2 more sources
Host Exploitation by Cuckoos in China: A Review and Real-Time Tracking Program for Parasitism Records. [PDF]
Integr ZoolChina is a global hotspot for cuckoo‐host diversity, with 17 cuckoo species, exploiting 142 host species. We reveal adaptive matching in body size and egg traits, along with niche partitioning among cuckoos, while identifying eight new host species.
Liu T, Yang C.
europepmc +2 more sources
How Do Oriental Reed Warblers Recognize Cuckoo Eggs? [PDF]
Ecol EvolThe cognitive basis and underlying mechanisms of the host egg rejection behavior remain not well understood. Egg recognition experiments using three egg mimicry levels (non, poorly, and highly mimetic eggs) to observe Oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis) behavior at three breeding stages (pre‐egg‐laying, single host egg, and multiple host ...
Yan H, Wang L, Liang W.
europepmc +2 more sources
Three sympatric host nestlings eavesdrop on cuckoo nestling distress calls [PDF]
Ecology and EvolutionIn predator–prey interactions, the prey faces extreme challenges from predation, which drives the evolution of defense or anti‐predator mechanisms. Compared with adult birds, nestlings are more vulnerable but not helpless.
Jiaojiao Wang +5 more
doaj +2 more sources
iScience, 2023 Summary: As the frontline defense against avian brood parasitism, nest defense is important in reducing nest parasitism and increasing host fitness.
Longwu Wang +5 more
doaj +1 more source