Egg eviction imposes a recoverable cost of virulence in chicks of a brood parasite

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorAnderson, M.
dc.contributor.authorMoskat, C.
dc.contributor.authorBan, M.
dc.contributor.authorGrim, T.
dc.contributor.authorCassey, P.
dc.contributor.authorHauber, M.
dc.contributor.editorIwaniuk, A.
dc.date.issued2009
dc.description.abstractBackground: Chicks of virulent brood parasitic birds eliminate their nestmates and avoid costly competition for foster parental care. Yet, efforts to evict nest contents by the blind and naked common cuckoo Cuculus canorus hatchling are counterintuitive as both adult parasites and large older cuckoo chicks appear to be better suited to tossing the eggs and young of the foster parents. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we show experimentally that egg tossing imposed a recoverable growth cost of mass gain in common cuckoo chicks during the nestling period in nests of great reed warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus hosts. Growth rates of skeletal traits and morphological variables involved in the solicitation of foster parental care remained similar between evictor and non-evictor chicks throughout development. We also detected no increase in predation rates for evicting nests, suggesting that egg tossing behavior by common cuckoo hatchlings does not increase the conspicuousness of nests. Conclusion: The temporary growth cost of egg eviction by common cuckoo hatchlings is the result of constraints imposed by rejecter host adults and competitive nestmates on the timing and mechanism of parasite virulence.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityMichael G. Anderson, Csaba Moskát, Miklós Bán, Tomáš Grim, Phillip Cassey and Mark E. Hauber
dc.identifier.citationPLoS One, 2009; 4(11):1-7
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0007725
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.orcidCassey, P. [0000-0002-2626-0172]
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2440/66999
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherPublic Library of Science
dc.rightsCopyright 2009 Anderson et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0007725
dc.subjectAnimals
dc.subjectSongbirds
dc.subjectModels, Statistical
dc.subjectBehavior, Animal
dc.subjectNesting Behavior
dc.subjectCompetitive Behavior
dc.subjectMaternal Behavior
dc.subjectModels, Theoretical
dc.subjectEggs
dc.subjectFemale
dc.titleEgg eviction imposes a recoverable cost of virulence in chicks of a brood parasite
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
hdl_ 66999.pdf
Size:
322.68 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Published version
Download

Collections

Earth and Environmental Sciences publications
Environment Institute Leaders publications