High egg rejection rate in a Chinese population of grey-backed thrush (Turdus hortulorum)

Yang, Canchao; Wang, Long-Wu; Liang, Wei; Møller, A. P.

doi:10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2019.039

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Our results show that the Chestnut Thrush has a moderate egg rejection ability, which is similar to results from European studies of the Song Thrush and the Blackbird (Grim and Honza 2001). Conversely, we show that the Chinese Thrush has a strong egg recognition ability, which is similar to that of the Spanish Blackbird (Soler et al 2015;Ruiz-Raya et al 2016) and the Grey-backed Thrush in eastern China (Yang et al 2019b;Zhang et al 2019). Many potential hosts, even if not parasitized currently, may have retained an ability to reject eggs from a history with the parasite (Peer and Sealy 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

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Potential cuckoo hosts have similar egg rejection rates to parasitized host species

Sun

Liang

2020

Avian Res

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Background: Thrush species are rarely parasitized by cuckoos, but many have a strong egg recognition ability. To date, there is a limited understanding of the relationship between host egg rejection and cuckoo parasitism rate. Methods: By using egg experiments in the field, we compared egg rejection between two non-parasitized potential host species and two parasitized hosts of cuckoos in the same region. Results: The White-bellied Redstart (Luscinia phoenicuroides), a host of the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), rejected 66.6% of blue model eggs; the Elliot's Laughingthrush (Trochalopteron elliotii), a host of the Large Hawk Cuckoo (Hierococcyx sparverioides), rejected 25% of blue model eggs and 46.1% of white model eggs; and the Chestnut Thrush (Turdus rubrocanus) and the Chinese Thrush (T. mupinensis), in which cuckoo parasitism has not been recorded, rejected 41.1 and 83.3% of blue model eggs, respectively. There were no significant differences in the egg rejection among them, although the Chinese Thrush showed the highest rate of egg rejection. Conclusions: This study indicates that the egg recognition ability of cuckoo hosts has no correlation with the actual parasitism rate of cuckoos. We suggest that the egg recognition ability of the two potential host species may have been retained from a parasitic history with the cuckoo, while the two common host species have developed their egg rejection abilities due to current parasitism pressure. In addition, our study highlights the importance of the multicuckoo parasite system for better understanding the selection pressure of parasitism on the evolution of host egg recognition abilities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

“…Soler et al (2015) found that the rejection rate of Blackbirds was 71.4%. Recent studies in China have even found that the rejection rate of Grey-backed Thrushes (Turdus hortulorum) to foreign eggs is almost 100% (Yang et al 2019b;Zhang et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential cuckoo hosts have similar egg rejection rates to parasitized host species

Sun

Liang

2020

Avian Res

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“…Moksnes et al 1991b): if the host did not reject the experimental egg within six days, it was recorded as accepted; if the egg was pecked, disappeared or deserted within six days, it was considered rejected. Experimental nests that were predated or destroyed because of bad weather within six days were not counted in the results of the experiment (see also Yang et al 2019).…”

Section: Egg Recognition Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Egg rejection and egg recognition mechanisms in Oriental Reed Warblers

Liang

2021

Avian Res

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Background Nest parasitism by cuckoos (Cuculus spp.) results in enormous reproductive failure and forces hosts to evolve antiparasitic strategies, i.e., recognition of own eggs and rejection of cuckoo eggs. There are often sexual conflicts between male and female individuals in the expression of antiparasitic behavior due to the differences in reproductive inputs and division of labor. Methods By adding a foreign egg made of blue soft clay to the host nest during early incubation period in the field, and by removing several host eggs and adding experimental eggs to control the proportion of two egg types in the nest, we examined egg rejection ability, egg recognition mechanism and sexual difference in egg rejection of the Oriental Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis), one of the major hosts of Common Cuckoos (Cuculus canorus). Results Our results indicated that Oriental Reed Warblers can recognize and reject nearly 100% (73/75) of the non-mimetic eggs made of blue soft clay, and they could reject foreign eggs with 100% accuracy, regardless of the ratio of experimental eggs and its own eggs in the nest. Furthermore, all cases of egg rejections recorded by videos were only carried out by females. Conclusions Oriental Reed Warblers have a high egg recognition ability and show a true recognition mechanism. Only female warblers perform egg rejection, suggesting that the sex for host egg incubation seems to play an important role in the evolution of egg recognition mechanisms.

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“…However, methodologies vary among studies, which may restrict the feasibility for comparisons. For example, combining with those studies that were filtered out from meta-analyses but were related with this topic, inconsistencies were found in the timing of testing, egg types (real or model eggs; Yang et al 2015a ; Peer 2017 ; Yi et al 2020 ), mimetic degree ( Underwood and Sealy 2006 ; Zölei et al 2012 ; Yang et al 2019b ), egg size and materials ( Guigueno and Sealy 2009 ; Roncalli et al 2016 ), egg colors ( Feng et al 2019 ), egg spots or patterns ( Wang et al 2015 ), or 3D or flat objects ( Poláčeket al 2013 ). Furthermore, the shapes and materials used in detecting nest sanitation varied as well.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of nest sanitation behavior on hosts’ egg rejection: an empirical study and meta-analyses

et al. 2021

Current Zoology

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Egg rejection in birds is a specific adaptation toward avian brood parasitism, while nest sanitation is a general behavior for cleaning the nest and avoiding predation. However, both behaviors refer to the action of ejecting objects out of the nest, and nest sanitation has been proposed as a pre-adaptation for egg rejection. Here we tested the eliciting effect of nest sanitation on egg rejection in the red-whiskered bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus, a potential host species that is sympatric with parasitic cuckoos. We conducted meta-analyses of previous studies on both nest sanitation and egg rejection, in order to evaluate the consistency of our conclusions. Our results showed that nest sanitation did not elicit egg rejection in P. jocosus. The conclusions concerning such an eliciting effect from previous studies were mixed, while the methodologies were inconsistent, making the studies unsuitable for comparisons. However, the ejection frequency of nest sanitation was consistently higher than the frequency of egg rejection across different host species or populations. These results suggest that nest sanitation, which is an ancient behavior, is more fundamental than egg rejection, but the effect of the former on the latter is complex and needs further study. Standardized methodologies and the integration of behavior, physiology, and modeling may provide better opportunities to explore the relationship between nest sanitation and egg rejection.

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High egg rejection rate in a Chinese population of grey-backed thrush (Turdus hortulorum)

Abstract: Reflectance of thrush eggs was averaged from three eggs from the nest in Figure 2.

Cited by 11 publications

References 32 publications

Potential cuckoo hosts have similar egg rejection rates to parasitized host species

Potential cuckoo hosts have similar egg rejection rates to parasitized host species

Egg rejection and egg recognition mechanisms in Oriental Reed Warblers

Impact of nest sanitation behavior on hosts’ egg rejection: an empirical study and meta-analyses

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