Caught on camera: circumstantial evidence for fatal mobbing of an avian brood parasite by a host

Šulc, Michal; Štětková, Gabriela; Procházka, Petr; Požgayová, Milica; Sosnovcová, Kateřina; Studecký, Jan; Honza, Marcel

doi:10.25225/jvb.20027

Cited by 19 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…From the parasite's point of view, host aggressivity may be an important problem, especially when parasites face relatively large and very aggressive hosts that are even able to kill them (reviewed in Šulc et al . 2020), such as Great Reed Warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus parasitized by Common Cuckoos (Šulc et al . 2020) and Chalk‐browed Mockingbirds Mimus saturninus parasitized by Shiny Cowbirds (Gloag et al .…”

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Fast and furious: host aggression modulates behaviour of brood parasites

Jelínek

Šulc

Štětková

et al. 2021

Ibis

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Avian brood parasites pose a serious threat to hosts, substantially reducing their fitness, which selects for the evolution of host defences. A classic example of a host frontline defence is mobbing, which frequently includes contact attacking of brood parasites. Here, we investigated how the nest defence of a very aggressive host, the Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus, influences the speed of egg‐laying and egg‐removing behaviour of its brood parasite – the Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus. We video‐recorded 168 brood parasitic events at 102 active host nests and found that Cuckoos avoided host mobbing in 62% of cases. If hosts spotted the Cuckoo at their nests, they almost always attacked it (91 of 104 cases; 88%); however, such attacks only rarely and temporarily prevented Cuckoos from parasitizing (11 additional cases). When attacked, Cuckoos parasitized host nests significantly faster and left them immediately after laying. However, when not attacked, Cuckoos frequently stayed at or near the nest, suggesting that host aggression, rather than the risk of being spotted, influences the speed of brood parasitism in this species. Further, we found that Cuckoos performed egg‐removing behaviour in all parasitic events without regard to host aggression. As a result, Cuckoos removed at least one egg during all brood parasitism events except those when the egg slipped from their beaks when they were attacked by hosts and, thus, remained in the nest (in nine of 82 cases when they were attacked; 10.9%). This indicates that egg‐removing behaviour is not costly for the Common Cuckoo and is an essential part of its parasitism strategy, widening our understanding of this elusive behaviour.

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“…2020), such as Great Reed Warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus parasitized by Common Cuckoos (Šulc et al . 2020) and Chalk‐browed Mockingbirds Mimus saturninus parasitized by Shiny Cowbirds (Gloag et al . 2013).…”

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confidence: 99%

Fast and furious: host aggression modulates behaviour of brood parasites

Jelínek

Šulc

Štětková

et al. 2021

Ibis

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“…It is worth noting that, despite the few known cases when the great reed warblers managed to kill a cuckoo by drowning it in water (Molnár, 1944; Šulc et al., 2020), the mobbing of live female cuckoos by great reed warblers seemingly has little effect on the success rate of parasitic attempts, as cuckoos still manage to lay eggs in the host nests, even when both parents of this larger host are attacking them fiercely (Jelínek et al., 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…32 g), a relatively larger host of the common cuckoo (ca. 100 g), is typically more aggressive towards both predators and brood parasites than the smaller warbler species, and attacks cuckoos near its nest more often (Moksnes et al., 1991; Røskaft et al., 2002; Trnka & Prokop, 2010, 2012), sometimes with fatal consequences for the brood parasites (Molnár, 1944; Šulc et al., 2020). Therefore, the coping strategy of a larger and more aggressive host might differ markedly and predictably from the behavioural response of a smaller, more threat‐avoidant host.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female common cuckoo calls dampen the mobbing intensity of great reed warbler hosts

et al. 2021

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To avoid mobbing attacks by their hosts during egg laying, some avian brood parasites have evolved traits to visually and/or acoustically resemble predator(s) of their hosts. Prior work established that reed warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus), a small host species of the brood parasitic common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), delayed returning to the nest when confronted by either the calls of the female cuckoo or that of the predatory sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus). It remains less clear, however, whether female cuckoo calls also suppress the nest defences of larger and more aggressive hosts. Such hosts typically attack vigorously, and can even hurt the brood parasitic intruders, instead of fleeing in the face of danger. Here, we tested whether the female cuckoo calls dampen mobbing intensity in a much larger Acrocephalus host of the common cuckoo, the great reed warbler (A. arundinaceus). We presented great reed warbler pairs with female common cuckoo models at their nests without and then with playing back the female‐specific bubbling calls of the cuckoo. As controls, we tested the hosts’ responses to harmless collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto) models, also without and then with the playbacks of dove calls. We found that the playback of female brood parasite calls reduced the aggression of hosts towards the cuckoo models as compared to model presentations without female calls, but we detected no such effect of the control calls with dove models. Our results revealed that female cuckoo calls effectively suppress the antiparasitic responses of great reed warbler hosts, which could aid parasites to approach the nest undiscovered and to evade the costly attacks of this large host. Therefore, the female call can be regarded as a general part of the cuckoo's trickery repertoire for successful parasitism.

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“…Therefore, parasitizing host species that nest above the water can have a high cost, suggesting that specialization on such a host can become an evolutionary trap. Similarly, it seems that parasitizing nests build above the water may increase the risk of being killed by aggressive hosts (Šulc et al ). Despite this, the RW is one of the most frequent cuckoo host in Europe (Moksnes and Røskaft ) which presumably implies that this host is otherwise very suitable, e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Falling out of the host nest: an overlooked factor decreasing survival of brood parasite chicks

Honza

Čapek

Jelínek

et al. 2020

Journal of Avian Biology

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Animals rely on an array of environmental triggers or cues to make their behavioural and life‐history decisions. Brood–parasitic females should prefer the best host to maximize their reproductive success. Despite the fact that Eurasian reed warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus is one of the most frequent host of the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus, parasitic chicks often prematurely fall out of the nests and drown. To establish whether these events are influenced by the size of the nest, we experimentally replaced original Eurasian reed warbler nests for much bigger great reed warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus ones and transferred cuckoo chicks into them to record their fate. The chicks in bigger nests showed significantly lower falling‐out rate (4 of 29) compared with those remained in smaller nests (12 of 32). These findings suggest that host nest size plays an important role in the suitability of host species and that smaller host nests may pose a high mortality risk to the relatively big cuckoo chicks. Moreover, cuckoo chicks that fell out of the nests were significantly less fed by foster parents before falling‐out event than those stayed in the nests. This indicates that insufficient parental care may also facilitate falling‐out of cuckoo chicks, probably because hungry chicks are more restless in host nests. The relatively frequent falling‐out events represent a substantial and underestimated cost of brood parasites. Without video surveillance it can incorrectly be confused with predation. We therefore strongly recommend using video‐recording for determining predation costs in birds.

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Caught on camera: circumstantial evidence for fatal mobbing of an avian brood parasite by a host

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 19 publications

References 23 publications

Fast and furious: host aggression modulates behaviour of brood parasites

Fast and furious: host aggression modulates behaviour of brood parasites

Female common cuckoo calls dampen the mobbing intensity of great reed warbler hosts

Falling out of the host nest: an overlooked factor decreasing survival of brood parasite chicks

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