Sex-specific responses to simulated territorial intrusions in the common cuckoo: a dual function of female acoustic signaling

Moskát, Csaba; Hauber, Márk E.

doi:10.1007/s00265-019-2665-0

Cited by 28 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…For females, the "bubbling" call may function as a signal to defend resources, for example, host nests. Male cuckoos showing strong responses to playbacks of female "bubbling" call have also been discovered in a recent research (Moskát & Hauber, 2019). Based on these findings, and those of our previous research, which found that vocal activity of female common cuckoos in the same study population peaked in the morning , we suggest that the primary function of the female "bubbling" call in this population is intraspecific communication, rather than distraction of nest hosts.…”

Section: The Function Of the Female "Bubbling" Callsupporting

confidence: 84%

The function of three main call types in common cuckoo

et al. 2019

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Acoustic signals play a key role in shaping the relationships in birds. Common cuckoos Cuculus canorus are known to produce various call types, but the function of these calls has only been studied recently. Here, we used a combination of field recordings (conducted in 2017) and playback experiments (conducted in 2018) to investigate the functional significance of common cuckoo calls. We found significant differences in the characteristics between male two‐element “cu‐coo” and three‐element “cu‐cu‐coo” calls, with these two call types being used in different contexts. The three‐element male “cu‐cu‐coo” calls were associated with females emitting their “bubbling” call. Playback experiments revealed that both males and females exhibit stronger responses to playing female “bubbling” calls than with the calls of the Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipter nisus) serving as a control, suggesting a significant intraspecific communication function for this call type. However, we did not find any evidence to support mate attraction in male calls, as females were not stimulated by playback of male calls compared with sparrowhawk calls in the control group.

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Section: The Function Of the Female "Bubbling" Callsupporting

confidence: 84%

The function of three main call types in common cuckoo

et al. 2019

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“…The female cuckoo's bubbling call seems to be a multifunctional signal, being important in interspecific cuckoo–host relationships, as well as in conspecific communication (Deng et al, 2019; Moskát & Hauber, 2019). The bubbling call might play a role in the context of mate attraction (Moskát & Hauber, 2019; Xia et al., 2019) and could also function as a territorial signal for other conspecific females (Davies, 2015; Moskát et al., 2020). A previous study (York & Davies, 2017) tested an interspecific function of female cuckoo calls against a small host, the reed warbler, while our results revealed that this call also effectively dampened the mobbing responses of a large host, the great reed warbler.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To test whether the female cuckoo's bubbling call (Moskát & Hauber, 2019) has a negative effect on host mobbing intensity, we presented 3D‐printed common cuckoo or dove models as a control to great reed warblers at their nests (following Marton et al., 2019). We performed experimental trials at great reed warbler nests ( n = 61), during the laying and early incubation stages.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2‐s‐long bubbling calls (three calls within 30 s), and this section was repeated two times with 15‐s inter‐section silent periods. A similar structure was also used for the 2‐min dove control files (see more details of the playback in Moskát & Hauber, 2019; Moskát et al., 2020). To reduce pseudoreplication, we used three different rufous cuckoo and three dove decoys, and six different bubbling call and six dove call recordings chosen randomly.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the adaptive similarity in appearance between the adult cuckoo and the sparrowhawk ( Accipiter nisus ) was one of the foci of the past two decades of research on brood parasites and their hosts (Davies, 2015; Trnka et al., 2012; Welbergen & Davies, 2011), the acoustic components of this similarity were only recently examined. These studies have now revealed that sounds emitted by brood parasites play an important role in conspecific communication (Moskát et al., 2017, 2020; Moskát & Hauber, 2019; Yu et al., 2019), and also as a means to increase the breeding success of the brood parasite. For example, a recent study demonstrated that cuckoos likely eavesdrop on the alarm calls of their hosts to locate host nests (Marton et al., 2019), while another study revealed that female cuckoos manipulate the behaviour of their hosts through their calls which are similar to those of the sparrowhawk (York & Davies, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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Costly conspicuousness reveals benefits of sexual dimorphism in brood parasitic diederik cuckoos

York

2024

Ecology and Evolution

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The existence of adult sexual dimorphism is typically explained as a consequence of sexual selection, yet coevolutionary drivers of sexual dimorphism frequently remain untested. Here, I investigate the role of sexual dimorphism in host–parasite interactions of the brood parasitic diederik cuckoo, Chrysococcyx caprius. Female diederik cuckoos are more cryptic in appearance and pose a threat to the clutch, while male diederik cuckoos are conspicuous and not a direct threat. Specifically, I examine whether sexual dimorphism in diederik cuckoos provokes threat‐level sensitive responses in Southern red bishop, Euplectes orix, hosts. I use experimentally simulated nest intrusions to test whether hosts have the capacity to differentially (i) detect, and/or (ii) discriminate between, male and female diederik cuckoos, relative to harmless controls. Overall, I found no evidence that diederik cuckoos differ in detectability, since both sexes are comparable to controls in the probability and speed of host detection. Furthermore, neither male nor female hosts discriminate between sexually dimorphic diederik cuckoos when engaging in frontline nest defences. However, hosts that witnessed a male diederik cuckoo during the trial were more likely to reject odd eggs. Moreover, experimental eggs were significantly more likely to be rejected when female bishops observed a male compared to a female diederik cuckoo. While the cryptic appearance of female diederik cuckoos does not reduce detection by hosts, it does provide the benefit of anonymity given the egg rejection costs of conspicuous male‐like appearance in the nest vicinity. These findings have implications for the evolution and maintenance of sexual dimorphism across the Cuculidae, and highlight the value of testing assumptions about the ecological drivers of sexual dimorphism.

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Sex-specific responses to simulated territorial intrusions in the common cuckoo: a dual function of female acoustic signaling

Cited by 28 publications

References 49 publications

The function of three main call types in common cuckoo

The function of three main call types in common cuckoo

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

Costly conspicuousness reveals benefits of sexual dimorphism in brood parasitic diederik cuckoos

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