Age and Other Factors Influencing Mating Status in German Great Reed Warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)

Leisler, Bernd; Beier, Josef; Heine, Georg; Siebenrock, Karl-Heinz

doi:10.3838/jjo.44.169

Cited by 17 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Lotem et al (1995) found in the closely related oriental reed warbler that variability in production of eggshell pigments decreased with female age. Older great and oriental warbler females usually tend to start laying earlier than younger birds (Leisler et al 1995;Lotem et al 1995), implying that as the season progresses, intraclutch variation in egg colouration will increase, both on account of younger females breeding later; and as second (and more variable) clutches of older females are laid. Several studies on brown-headed cowbirds have revealed that parasitism rate increases with host female age (Smith 1981;.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Choosing suitable hosts: common cuckoos Cuculus canorus parasitize great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus of high quality

et al. 2008

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We investigated the hypothesis that the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus selects host pairs of good phenotypic quality. As there is some evidence that cuckoos may select hosts within a population non-randomly based on external cues reflecting their foster abilities, we predicted that great reed warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus pairs parasitized by the cuckoo would exhibit higher quality than unparasitized ones. To test this assumption, we evaluated two different parameters indicating host quality: body condition and characteristics of host eggs. We found that parasitized females showed significantly better body condition than unparasitized ones, and the model showed that the probability of being parasitized by the cuckoos increased with increasing body condition. Moreover, the likelihood of being parasitized by a cuckoo within the great reed warbler population increased with decreasing colour variability within clutches: parasitized females allocated costly blue pigments to eggshells more equally compared with unparasitized ones. Our study revealed that cuckoos parasitize great reed warbler females of higher quality, as reflected in host body condition and egg colour characteristics. In highly mimetic systems, cuckoos may choose to parasitize hosts with eggs displaying low intraclutch variation, both because this leads to reduced rejection and because these hosts are of high quality.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Choosing suitable hosts: common cuckoos Cuculus canorus parasitize great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus of high quality

et al. 2008

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“…Both of these were severalyear-old males that were singing in territories 2.4 and 2.5 km away, respectively, and apparently had no females. These EPF males differed from the social males in that (i) they were somewhat heavier (like most unpaired males: Catchpole et al 1985, Leisler et al 1995, (ii) they were one year younger and (iii) they sang larger repertoires (24 vs. 19, 47 vs. 34 elements). However, there was no difference in wing length.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…The information given here about population size and density derives from the main study region between Biengarten, Poppenwind and Hesselberg (49°40' N, 10°51' E, 290 m above sea level), which in 1983 was declared a nature reserve, the ªVogelfreista Ètte Weihergebiet Mohrhofº. The study area is used to raise carp and has been described in considerable detail by Beier (1981) and Leisler et al (1995).…”

Section: Field Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In polygynous systems female choice should be less constrained than in monogamous birds, and EPF rates are predicted to be higher in the former group (Gowaty 1999). For the Great Reed Warbler it is well documented that females select their breeding situation according to characteristics of both the males themselves and their territories (e. g., age, song, quality of the reeds; Catchpole et al 1986, Dyrcz 1986 and that these covary (Catchpole et al 1985, Bensch 1993, Hasselquist 1994, Leisler et al 1995, Hasselquist 1998; that is, males with good characteristics also have good territories. In addition, the best males in the best territories usually manage to attract more than one female, thus becoming polygynous.…”

Section: General Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variation in extra-pair paternity in the polygynous Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)

2000

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In five years (1992, 1994 ± 97) we measured the frequency of extra-pair paternity (EPP) in a Bavarian population of polygynous Great Reed Warblers (Fra Ènkische Weiher region: 49°40'N, 10°51'E); these data were compared with corresponding findings in Sweden. Progeny from copulations with a male other than the partner (extra-pair young, EPY) were identified by multi-locus DNA fingerprinting with oligonucleotide probes. In 48 broods with 194 nestlings we found 19 EPY in 5 broods. The extra-pair fertilisation (EPF) rate as a percentage of total juveniles (9.8 %) is higher, but that with reference to nests (10.4 %) is only insignificantly higher than in Sweden. In contrast to Sweden, neighbour males in our population were never involved in EPF. For two EPF nests the genetic fathers of the EPY were identified; both were unpaired males several years old, with very distant territories (2.4 km away). Both had larger song repertoires than the pair males, and one sang a Great Reed Warbler x Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) mixed song. In the other cases we were unable to detect the genetic father, either among the neighbouring males or the others tested. Presumably these EPY spring from floater males or rapid mate switching. As in Sweden, EPY were observed in nests of monogamous (2x) as well as polygynous (3x primary females) males. However, in Germany the breeding density was lower and distribution more patchy and the EPF broods were produced earlier (before the median egg-laying date) than those in Sweden. Our comparison supports the hypothesis that the EPF rate is higher in populations with greater genetic variability than in those with less variability. The relatively low EPP rate in this species seems to be due to a close correlation between male and territory characteristics.

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“…The great reed warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus serves as a good model for studying the relation between the social mating system and rates of cuckoo parasitism. It is a wellknown cuckoo host in Central Europe which suffers relatively high rates of cuckoo parasitism Honza 2002, Kleven et al 2004) and some great reed warbler populations may reach high levels of social polygyny (Leisler et al 1995, Bensch 1996. Importantly, socially polygynous males provide less feeding and nest defence assistance to their females (Sejberg et al 2000, Trnka and including nest guarding during egg laying period (Požgayová et al 2009) than do monogamous males to their females.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Polygynous great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus suffer more cuckoo Cuculus canorus parasitism than monogamous pairs

Trnka¹,

Prokop²

2011

Journal of Avian Biology

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Age and Other Factors Influencing Mating Status in German Great Reed Warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)

Cited by 17 publications

References 17 publications

Choosing suitable hosts: common cuckoos Cuculus canorus parasitize great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus of high quality

Choosing suitable hosts: common cuckoos Cuculus canorus parasitize great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus of high quality

Variation in extra-pair paternity in the polygynous Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)

Polygynous great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus suffer more cuckoo Cuculus canorus parasitism than monogamous pairs

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