Creamy-Bellied Thrush Defenses Against Shiny Cowbird Brood Parasitism

Astié, Andrea A.; Reboreda, Juan C.

doi:10.1650/7733.1

Cited by 20 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 40 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The clutch size reported for thrushes from north temperate areas is 4-5 eggs (Schnack 1991, Arheimer and Svensson 2008, Morton and Pereyra 2010, and is 2-3 eggs for thrushes in tropic and south temperate areas (Lichtenstein 1998, Sackmann and Reboreda 2003, Akinpelu 2005, Astié and Reboreda 2005, Halupka and Greeney 2009. Ours is the first study presenting data from a Turdus species that inhabits an arid temperate area as far as we know.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Creamy-bellied Thrushes build open cup nests composed of grasses cemented with mud and lined with grasses and hairs. They lay three eggs with a pale greenish background and spots and blotches of reddish-brown concentrated at the larger pole (Astié and Reboreda 2005). The incubation period is 11.5 days and the nestling period is 12 days Reboreda 2005, 2009a).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The incubation period is 11.5 days and the nestling period is 12 days Reboreda 2005, 2009a). Average adult mass is 55 g (Astié and Reboreda 2005). This species is heavily parasitized by the Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) in the study area (Astié and Reboreda 2005, 2006, 2009a occupies areas irrigated for agriculture.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Average adult mass is 55 g (Astié and Reboreda 2005). This species is heavily parasitized by the Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) in the study area (Astié and Reboreda 2005, 2006, 2009a occupies areas irrigated for agriculture. The study area was a 1,000-ha cultivated field with vineyards, olives (Olea europaea), and poplar (Populus nigra) groves.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Reproductive Success of the Creamy-Bellied Thrush in a Southern Temperate Zone

Astié

Luchesi

2012

The Wilson Journal of Ornithology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Reproductive Success of the Creamy-Bellied Thrush in a Southern Temperate Zone

Astié

Luchesi

2012

The Wilson Journal of Ornithology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Similar arguments could be applied to other cowbird hosts in which imperfect defenses or the lack of defenses have been observed (Mermoz and Reboreda 1994, Massoni and Reboreda 1998, Mermoz and Fernández 1999, Sackmann and Reboreda 2003, Astié and Reboreda 2005. In that sense, the host's response to parasitism should not be seen merely as a consequence of the coevolutionary history and the intensity and effects of parasitism, but it is likely to depend on the host's life-history parameters and ecological constraints such as nest predation rates.…”

mentioning

confidence: 84%

Can nest predation explain the lack of defenses against cowbird brood parasitism in the Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis)?

Carro¹,

Fernández²

2013

The Auk

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract.-Although interspecific avian brood parasitism usually lowers host productivity, some species lack any defense against parasites. We analyzed the effect of parasite egg removal or nest desertion following a parasitism event on the breeding productivity of the Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis), a common host of the Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis). The Rufouscollared Sparrow is an effective cowbird host that does not eject parasite eggs. We removed cowbird eggs from nests of Rufouscollared Sparrows to test for differences in hatching, fledging, and nesting success among naturally unparasitized, parasitized, and experimentally unparasitized nests from which we removed the cowbird eggs. We also used simulations to test whether parasite egg removal or nest desertion provide viable strategies to counter the effects of parasitism in this species. Naturally unparasitized nests produced more nestlings and fledglings than parasitized and experimentally unparasitized nests, but there were no differences between parasitized nests and those from which cowbird eggs were removed. Moreover, the overall nesting success was similar for all nest types. Simulation models confirmed these results but also showed that productivity may still increase through parasite egg ejection when the nest predation rate is relaxed only if no cost of parasite egg ejection is assumed. By contrast, nest desertion was not a viable strategy to reduce the effect of parasitism. We suggest that high nest predation could reduce the benefits of antiparasite defenses in the Rufouscollared Sparrow and may help explain the lack of such behavior in this species. Resúmen.-A pesar de que el parasitismo de cría interespecífico usualmente reduce la productividad de las especies hospedadoras, algunas de estas especies carecen de defensas contra los parásitos. En este trabajo analizamos el efecto que la remoción de huevos de los parásitos de cría y la deserción del nido siguiendo un evento de parasitismo podrían tener sobre la productividad de Zonotrichia capensis, una especie hospedadora común de Molothrus bonariensis. Esta especie es un hospedador efectivo de M. bonariensis y no rechaza los huevos del parásito de su nido. Realizamos la remoción de los huevos del parásito de nidos de Z. capensis, y comparamos el éxito de eclosión, de volantoneo y de nidificación de nidos naturalmente no parasitados, nidos parasitados y aquellos donde realizamos la remoción del huevo parásito. Además, utilizamos modelos de simulación para evaluar si la remoción de huevos del parásito y la deserción del nido podrían constituir estrategias viables para reducir los efectos del parasitismo de cría en esta especie. Los nidos naturalmente no parasitados produjeron más pichones y volantones que los nidos experimentales o los parasitados, pero no existieron diferencias entre estos dos últimos tipos de nidos. Además, el éxito de nidificación fue similar para los distintos tipos de nidos. A pesar de la falta de diferencias detectada en el experimento a campo, los mo...

show abstract

A review of the cues used for rejecting foreign eggs from the nest by the Eurasian blackbird (Turdus merula)

Fulmer

Hauber

2022

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Avian brood parasitism is reproductively costly for hosts and selects for cognitive features enabling anti-parasitic resistance at multiple stages of the host's breeding cycle. The true thrushes (genus Turdus) represent a nearly worldwide clade of potential hosts of brood parasitism by Cuculus cuckoos in Eurasia and Africa and Molothrus cowbirds in the Americas. The Eurasian blackbird (Turdus merula) builds an open-cup nest and is common within much of the common cuckoo's (C. canorus) breeding range.While this thrush is known to be parasitized at most only at low rates by this cuckoo, the species is also a strong rejector of nonmimetic foreign eggs in the nest. Given their open-cup nesting habits, we predict that Eurasian blackbirds primarily use visual cues in making a distinction between own and parasitically or experimentally inserted foreign eggs in the nest. We then provide a comprehensive and quantitative review of the literature on blackbird egg rejection studies. This review corroborates that vision is the primary sensory modality used by blackbirds in assessing eggs, but also brings attention to some other, less commonly studied cues which appear to influence rejection, including predator exposure, individual experience, stage of clutch completion, and maternal hormonal state. Blackbirds are also able to recognize and eject even highly mimetic eggs (including those of conspecifics) at a moderate rate, apparently relying on many of the same sensory cues. Although the cues involved in foreign egg recognition by Eurasian blackbirds do not appear specialized to nonmimetic cuckoo parasitism, we cannot differentiate between the possibility of egg rejection being selected by mostly conspecific parasitism or by the evolutionary ghost of a now-extinct, mimetic cuckoo host-race.

show abstract

Creamy-Bellied Thrush Defenses Against Shiny Cowbird Brood Parasitism

Cited by 20 publications

References 40 publications

Reproductive Success of the Creamy-Bellied Thrush in a Southern Temperate Zone

Reproductive Success of the Creamy-Bellied Thrush in a Southern Temperate Zone

Can nest predation explain the lack of defenses against cowbird brood parasitism in the Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis)?

A review of the cues used for rejecting foreign eggs from the nest by the Eurasian blackbird (Turdus merula)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About