Utilization of a new host in the screaming cowbird Molothrus rufoaxillaris, a host specialist brood parasite: host switch or host acquisition

The screaming cowbird Molothrus rufoaxillaris has been long known as a host specialist brood parasite. However, in the past years, the utilization of two new hosts has been documented. We examined the variation in mitochondrial control region sequences from screaming cowbird chicks found in the nest...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral ecology and sociobiology 2009-09, Vol.63 (11), p.1603-1608
Main Authors: Mahler, Bettina, Sarquis Adamson, Yanina, Di Giacomo, Alejandro G, Confalonieri, Viviana A, Reboreda, Juan C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Ecology
Animal nesting
Behavioral Sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Bird nesting
Brood parasitism
Chicks
Eggs
Evolution
Evolutionary genetics
Female animals
Frequency distribution
Haplotypes
Life Sciences
Mitochondrial DNA
Molothrus
Molothrus rufoaxillaris
Nests
Original Paper
Parasites
Studies
Wildfowl
Zoology
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Summary:The screaming cowbird Molothrus rufoaxillaris has been long known as a host specialist brood parasite. However, in the past years, the utilization of two new hosts has been documented. We examined the variation in mitochondrial control region sequences from screaming cowbird chicks found in the nests of two hosts, the bay-winged cowbird (Agelaioides badius), which is its regular host, and the chopi blackbird (Gnorimopsar chopi), which is a new host, in Formosa Province, Argentina. If a group of females switched to this new host, we expected to find an association between host use and haplotype frequency distribution, indicating the presence of host-specific female lineages, whereas we expected no such association if the cowbird population incorporated this new host and females use both hosts simultaneously. Haplotype frequency distributions differed between cowbird chicks from the nests of both hosts. This indicates that nest choice by females of this brood parasite is not random and that they preferentially parasitize the nests of the same host species.
ISSN:0340-5443
1432-0762
DOI:10.1007/s00265-009-0755-0