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26 results for “common cuckoo”
Microsatellites genotyping for common and lesser cuckoos
<p>In a parasite species, the dispersal of individuals should be dependent on host species to which they are specialized; thus, any sexual/individual difference in host specificity may influence their dispersal patterns, and hence, population genetic structures. However, such predictions remain poorly verified in generalist avian brood parasites that is composed of multiple lineages of host-specific races. Here, we show the dispersal consequences inferred from spatial genetic structures and their association with host specificity in brood parasitic common cuckoos <i>Cuculus canorus</i> in which female-specific host race formation has been widely accepted. Genetic sampling from adult cuckoos confirmed restricted dispersal in both sexes and resultant genetic structures between populations where different host species breed allopatrically, whereas it was not the case between distant areas inhabited by the same host species. Contrary to the female host race hypothesis, our results demonstrate that male cuckoos may also have host specificity and disperse accordingly, conclusively allowing us to hypothesize the formation of host race including both sexes.</p>
Videos of Common Cuckoos parasitizing their Reed Warbler hosts in China
<p>Dataset including eight .mp4 videos:</p> <p>Videos 1-3: Egg laying by female cuckoos in host nests.</p> <p>Video 4: The host collected the nest materials for nesting.</p> <p>Videos 5-7: The Common Cuckoo visits the host nest but not egg-laying.</p> <p>Video 8: The calling by a female Oriental Reed Warbler in a nest in the morning.</p>
The role of reed management and habitat quality on brood parasitism and chick survival of the brood parasitic Common Cuckoo
<p>Despite efforts on ecosystem restoration and management, biodiversity loss remains one of the major environmental concerns of our time. Beyond the focus on threatened species, animals that indicate regional biodiversity hotspots and population trends, such as brood parasites, should also be targeted by conservation actions. We studied how reed habitat quality and management influence brood parasitism rate and offspring survival in Common Cuckoos Cuculus canorus parasitizing nests of Great Reed Warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus. In six reed habitats in an intensive agricultural landscape. Data collected from 45 sites over 13 years showed that the brood parasitism rate was highest on large canals and was positively influenced by the availability of potential perches (Cuckoo vantage points) and the height where host nests were built. Cuckoo chick survival decreased with water depth and was not affected by other factors. Our results suggest that the habitat-dependent detectability of host nests was central in brood parasitism rate and that water level was central in Cuckoo chick survival. Our study shows that a maintenance of intermediate water levels is the most optimal for maintaining Cuckoo populations in intensive agricultural landscapes. Because brood parasites are excellent bioindicators as their presence predicts regional hotspots of taxonomic and functional diversity as well as population trends in bird communities, knowledge on their habitat requirements is relevant in management targeting diverse bird communities.</p>
Spring arrival of the common cuckoo at breeding grounds is strongly determined by environmental conditions in tropical Africa
<p>Failure to adapt migration timing to changes in environmental conditions along migration routes and at breeding locations can result in mismatches across trophic levels, as occurs between the brood parasitic common cuckoo <em>Cuculus</em> <em>canorus</em> and its hosts. Using satellite tracking data from 87 male cuckoos across 11 years, we evaluate why the cuckoo has not advanced its arrival to the UK. Across years, breeding ground arrival was primarily determined by timing of departure from stopover in West Africa before northward crossing of the Sahara. Together with high population synchrony and low apparent endogenous control of this event, this suggests that a seasonal ecological constraint operating here limits overall variation in breeding grounds arrival, although this event was itself influenced by carry-over from timing of arrival into tropical Africa. Between-year variation within individuals was, in contrast, mostly determined by northward migration through Europe, likely due to weather conditions. We find evidence of increased mortality risk for a) early birds following migration periods positively impacting breeding grounds arrival, and b) late birds, possibly suffering energy limitation, after departure from the breeding grounds. These results help identify areas where demands of responding to global change can potentially be alleviated by improving stopover quality.</p>
Data for: Egg mimicry, not the sight of a common cuckoo, is the cue for parasitic egg rejection
<p>Many studies have found that if hosts observe a brood parasite at their nest, they use it as a cue to reject parasitic eggs. However, most previous work has simulated brood parasitic events by exposing a stuffed parasite near a host's nest. Responses to the presence of a real parasite have not yet been adequately studied under natural conditions. We therefore investigated whether great reed warblers (<em>Acrocephalus arundinaceus</em>) are more likely to reject a parasitic egg if they see a parasitizing common cuckoo (<em>Cuculus canorus</em>) at their nest than if the parasite approaches host nest unnoticed. Using video recordings of 70 nests we showed that spotting a cuckoo at the nest did not increase rejection rate of parasitic eggs, even if hosts saw the cuckoo repeatedly. Hosts instead used the level of mimicry in background colour for cuckoo egg rejection. Since not every visit by the cuckoo leads to parasitism, seeing the brood parasite may not be a reliable enough cue for the host. Therefore, our results suggest that the sight of the brood parasite at the nest may not be as important as previously thought.</p>
Videos of Common Cuckoos parasitizing their Reed Warbler hosts in China
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Data for: Egg mimicry, not the sight of a common cuckoo, is the cue for parasitic egg rejection
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Microsatellites genotyping for common and lesser cuckoos
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The role of reed management and habitat quality on brood parasitism and chick survival of the brood parasitic Common Cuckoo
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Spring arrival of the common cuckoo at breeding grounds is strongly determined by environmental conditions in tropical Africa
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Egg laying behavior of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus): data based on field video-recordings
<p>The egg laying behavior of brood parasites is at the heart of studies on their co-evolution with hosts. Updating and reporting more egg laying behavior can improve our perception and insight on the brood parasitism process. During a 7 years' study period, we monitored 455 Oriental reed warbler (<i>Acrocephalus orientalis</i>) nests during the egg laying period, of which 250 were parasitized by common cuckoos (<i>Cuculus canorus</i>). We randomly recorded 53 clear videos of cuckoo parasitism, analyzed and recorded all parasitic behavior of cuckoo in details, summarized the process of brood parasitism displayed by the common cuckoo. Based on analyses of these field video-recordings, we proposed a new explanation for the egg removal behavior, namely the delivery hypothesis, i.e. the egg pecking and biting may help parasitic cuckoos lay eggs faster, thereby avoiding the host's attention and reducing host attacks, whilst egg removal is the side effect of egg pecking and biting. We concluded that common cuckoos do not care whether the host is around the nest, as they have a set of methods to deal with host attacks and can complete parasitism boldly and smoothly at any time.</p>
Data from: Common cuckoo females are not choosy when removing an egg during parasitism
Females of avian brood parasites have evolved various tactics to succeed in their reproductive strategy. Many of these adaptations, for example speed and timing of egg laying or egg mimicry, have been investigated in detail. However, one peculiar habit of parasitic females is still not fully understood—egg removal by adult parasitic females before laying their own egg. Here, we examined 2 hypotheses to explain this behavior in the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). Both hypotheses explored if the cuckoo females can inspect eggs in host nests and selectively remove some of them to improve their fitness. First, we investigated the "parasite competition hypothesis," which proposes that the cuckoo removes an egg from the host nest to get rid of a previously laid parasitic egg from another cuckoo female. Second, we proposed and investigated a new "mimicry improvement hypothesis" stating that the common cuckoo female removes 1 host egg to improve mimicry of its egg in the host clutch and thus increase the chance of acceptance. Randomization tests revealed that cuckoo females are not selective and remove 1 randomly chosen egg from the host nest. We suggest that egg selection behavior could be too costly because it requires time and the cuckoo benefits most from minimizing the time spent at the nest due to aggressiveness of the host.
Fatal mobbing and attack of the common cuckoo by its warbler hosts
<p><span>Nest defence is an effective strategy of hosts against parasites. Typically, hosts will aggressively attack brood parasites that approach or visit their nests, which can prevent the parasites from laying eggs or may even lead to the death of the parasites. Few previous studies have specifically reported such fatal cases involving brood parasites and have attributed the cause of death to either drowning or hypothermia after falling into the water following an attack from hosts. In this study, we recorded the process of multiple host individuals of the Oriental reed warbler (<em>Acrocephalus</em> <em>orientalis</em>) mobbing and attacking a female common cuckoo (<em>Cuculus</em> <em>canorus</em>) in the field. We discovered that the immediate cause of the cuckoo's death was the fatal physical damage resulting from the aggressive defence from the hosts, suggesting that frantic pecking and scratching by the hosts is the most proximate cause of mortality among egg-laying female cuckoos. This finding enhances our essential understanding of the effectiveness of host attacks.</span></p>
Red‐backed shrike (Lanius collurio) versus common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus): An example of ineffective cuckoo–hawk mimicry
<p><span>The red-backed shrike (<em>Lanius collurio</em>) used to be one of the most common hosts of the common cuckoo (<em>Cuculus</em> <em>canorus</em>). Nevertheless, during the last 30 years, there is increasing evidence from Central Europe that the occurrence of cuckoo chicks in shrike nests has become scarcer, and that in some locations they have disappeared completely. Multiple hypotheses have been suggested to explain this abandonment. Here, we test the hypothesis that shrikes vigorously attack adult cuckoos, potentially resulting in ineffective parasitism. Adult common cuckoos resemble in appearance the Eurasian sparrowhawk (<em>Accipiter</em> <em>nisus</em>), a common predator of small passerines. One hypothesis presumes that the cuckoo has evolved this mimicry to avoid attack by small passerines when searching for their nests. Our results show that shrikes defending their nests attacked cuckoos very vigorously, more often and more intensively than they did sparrowhawks. In the presence of a sparrowhawk dummy, parent shrikes only produced alarm calls and flew over the dummy. This suggests that cuckoo-hawk mimicry is ineffective in the case of shrikes and that they attack them much more often than they do any other presented intruder. Therefore, this activity could possibly result in the abandonment of shrikes as potential hosts for cuckoos.</span></p>
Data from: Chemical defence in avian brood parasites: production and function of repulsive secretions in common cuckoo chicks
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Red‐backed shrike (Lanius collurio) versus common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus): An example of ineffective cuckoo–hawk mimicry
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Data from: Rearing a virulent common cuckoo is not extra costly for its only cavity-nesting host
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Fatal mobbing and attack of the common cuckoo by its warbler hosts
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Data from: Common cuckoo females are not choosy when removing an egg during parasitism
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Recurrence, fidelity, and proximity to previously visited sites throughout the annual cycle in a trans-Saharan migrant, the Common Cuckoo
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