The Evolution of Predator Resemblance in Avian Brood Parasites

York, Jennifer E.

doi:10.3389/fevo.2021.725842

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Nevertheless, this heterogeneity in host aggressiveness means both defences are an unpredictable risk associated with approaching host nests. Second, despite lacking prominent chest‐barring, diederik cuckoos do exhibit underwing barring that can be revealed flexibly, so further investigation is now required to determine whether host aggression towards diederik cuckoos is modulated by this concealed hawk‐like characteristic (Lyon & Gilbert, 2013; York, 2021). Finally, it is perhaps surprising that hosts were not more aggressive towards diederik cuckoos, given their reputation for fierce attacks upon diederik cuckoo (Rowan, 1983).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, whether the hosts of brood parasitic cuckoos differentially detect, and/or discriminate between, adult forms due to sex differences in characteristics has rarely been investigated (York & Davies, 2017 ). This is important because identifying brood parasitic threats allows hosts to mount behavioural defences such as aggressive mobbing and egg rejection, which can be costly or fatal for cuckoos, and are key to mechanisms for selection on adult brood parasitic cuckoo phenotypes (reviewed in York, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

York

2024

Ecology and Evolution

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“…In contrast, the sparrowhawk is an important predator that can directly threaten adult passerine birds [ 18 ]. If the female cuckoo call can evoke the host anti-predator behavior similar to that displayed when hearing the call of the sparrowhawk, this would benefit the parasitic birds [ 26 ]. In recent years, studies have verified that female cuckoo calls simulate sparrowhawk calls and can deceive hosts, but these studies have not considered different geographic populations [ 25 , 28 , 29 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently, studies have verified that cuckoos can visually mimic raptors [ 7 , 13 , 14 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ], but there is much less research on vocal mimicry. Recent studies have shown that female calls, which are bubbling calls, can also mimic sparrowhawk sounds, thus playing a similar deceptive role in physical mimicry [ 25 , 26 ]. This response to auditory mimicry has been verified in birds including wild free-range chickens ( Gallus domesticus ), cinereous tits ( Parus cinereus ), and the oriental magpie-robin ( Copsychus saularis ) [ 27 , 28 , 29 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female Cuckoo Calls Deceive Their Hosts by Evoking Nest-Leaving Behavior: Variation under Different Levels of Parasitism

Wang

Chen

et al. 2022

Animals

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The common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is an obligate brood parasite that has evolved a series of strategies to trick its hosts. The female cuckoo has been hypothesized to mimic the appearance and sounds of several raptors to deceive the hosts into exhibiting anti-predator behavior. Such behavior would relax the protection of the host nest and thus allow the female cuckoo to approach the host nest unopposed. Many anti-parasite strategies have been found to vary among geographical populations due to different parasitic pressures from cuckoos. However, the effect of female cuckoo calls related to different levels of parasitic pressure has not been examined. Here, we studied the effect of female cuckoo calls on the oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis), one of the major hosts of the common cuckoo, in two geographical populations experiencing different levels of parasite pressure. Four kinds of sounds were played back to the hosts: the calls from female common cuckoos, male common cuckoos, sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus), and oriental turtle doves (Streptopelia orientalis). The results showed that the female cuckoo calls induced the hosts to leave their nests more frequently than the male cuckoo or dove calls in both populations, and two populations of the hosts reacted similarly to the female cuckoo calls, implying that the function of female cuckoo calls would not be affected by the difference in parasitism rate. This study indicates that female cuckoo calls function to distract the hosts’ attention from protecting their nests. However, we propose that such a deception by the female cuckoo call may not be due to the mimicry of sparrowhawk calls, but rather that the rapid cadence of the call that causes a sense of anxiety in the hosts.

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“…Yet, whether hosts differentially detect or discriminate between adult brood parasitic cuckoos on the basis of sex differences in characteristics has rarely been investigated (York & Davies, 2017). This is important because identifying brood parasitic threats can provide hosts with the opportunity to mount behavioural defences such as aggressive mobbing and egg rejection, which can be costly and/or fatal for cuckoos, and are key mechanisms for coevolutionary consequences for adult brood parasitic cuckoo phenotypes (Davies, 2000;York, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indiscriminate aggression and threat-level insensitive egg rejection maintain host susceptibility towards sexually dimorphic diederik cuckoos

York

2023

Preprint

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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 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 than twice as likely to reject odd eggs compared to those that saw a control. Moreover, hosts were more likely to reject experimental eggs when exposed to a male compared to a female diederik cuckoo: the reverse of a beneficial threat-level sensitive response. While the cryptic appearance of female diederik cuckoos does not differentially avoid detection by hosts, it does appear to provide the benefit of anonymity given the egg rejection costs of 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.

show abstract

The Evolution of Predator Resemblance in Avian Brood Parasites

Cited by 6 publications

References 69 publications

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

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

Female Cuckoo Calls Deceive Their Hosts by Evoking Nest-Leaving Behavior: Variation under Different Levels of Parasitism

Indiscriminate aggression and threat-level insensitive egg rejection maintain host susceptibility towards sexually dimorphic diederik cuckoos

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