Behaviour of African turdid hosts towards experimental parasitism with artificial red-chested cuckoo Cuculus solitarius eggs

• Published in: Journal of avian biology 2005-11, Vol.36 (6), p.517-522
• Main Authors: Honza, Marcel, Kuiper, Saskia M., Cherry, Michael I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biology; Bird nesting; Birds; Breeding; Brood parasitism; Cuculus solitarius; Eggs; Experimentation; Female animals; Incubation; Turdus libonyana; Warblers
• ISSN: 0908-8857; 1600-048X
• DOI: 10.1111/j.0908-8857.2005.03358.x

The red-chested cuckoo Cuculus solitarius parasitises many passerines in Africa, but some common species sympatric with this brood parasite are rarely used as hosts. We tested the responses of three turdid hosts to parasitism with artificial cuckoo eggs. The kurrichane thrush Turdus libonyana, which is not regularly parasitized by the cuckoo, rejected 60% of mimetic model eggs and 81% of non-mimetic eggs. We observed female thrush behaviour during the first visit after parasitism, and thrushes appeared to be initially fooled by mimetic eggs in completed clutches in all cases, and incubated. By contrast, in half of the experiments with non-mimetic eggs, these were ejected by the thrushes, with the host grasping the egg and flying away with it. The time spent nest checking prior to ejection was only one third of the time spent nest checking when females decided to incubate the clutch, suggesting that females were immediately aware of a foreign egg in the nest. By contrast, southern olive thrushes T. olivaceous rejected all non-mimetic and accepted all mimetic model eggs, whereas cape robins Cossypha caffra accepted all model eggs, irrespective of whether or not they were mimetic. Our results support the hypothesis that rejection behaviour in these two thrush species evolved as a defence against interspecific nest parasitism, with thrushes appearing to be ahead in this particular host-parasite arms race. The cape robin, by contrast, appears not to reject cuckoo eggs, either because it is to unable to recognize them, or because the costs associated with removal may be too high.