A novel method to collect sperm from brood parasitic cuckoos: Urodeum stimulation (UroS) method

Heesoo Lee; Hae-Ni Kim; Jun-Seo Go; Myeong-Chan Cha; Seongho Yun; Sue-Jeong Jin; Jin-Won Lee; Jeong-Chil Yoo

doi:10.1016/j.avrs.2023.100085

Avian Research 2023, 14(2): 100085 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2023.100085

Research Article |

Open Access | Issue | Published: 12 February 2023

A novel method to collect sperm from brood parasitic cuckoos: Urodeum stimulation (UroS) method

Show Author's Information Hide Author's Information Heesoo Lee^{^a^,^b}, Hae-Ni Kim^{^a^,^b}, Jun-Seo Go^{^a^,^b}, Myeong-Chan Cha^{^a^,^b}, Seongho Yun^{^a^,^b}, Sue-Jeong Jin^{^a^,^b}, Jin-Won Lee^{^a^,^b}(

), Jeong-Chil Yoo^{^a^,^b}

Korea Institute of Ornithology, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea

Department of Biology, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea

Keywords:

Brood parasitism, Sexual selection, Semen collection, Cuculus cuckoos, Sperm competition

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Lee H, Kim H-N, Go J-S, et al. A novel method to collect sperm from brood parasitic cuckoos: Urodeum stimulation (UroS) method. Avian Research, 2023, 14(2): 100085. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2023.100085

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Abstract Full text About this article

Abstract

Sperm competition has been studied in numerous species as a representative example of postcopulatory sexual selection, where sampling sperm from male is the most basic and important step. Sperm collection can be tricky in birds, however, because unlike mammals, the genitals of birds are generally latent in the cloacal region and their characteristics vary among species. Various methods to collect sperm from different birds have been tested, such as cloacal massage, feces collection, and electro-stimulation, but their applicability varies depending on species. In this study, we introduced the urodeum stimulation method (UroS method) to collect sperm from Cuculus cuckoos, such as the Common Cuckoo (C. canorus). These species are expected to have interesting patterns of pair bonding and sperm competition because of their unique breeding strategy called brood parasitism; however, it remains unexplored. In this study, we described the application of our new method to expel semen from male common cuckoos, measured the volume of semen collected, checked the presence of sperm in the semen sample, and finally estimated its success rate among 82 males. Samples were successfully collected from 76 cuckoos (approximately 93%) and the colors and volumes of the samples were very diverse. Sperm was present in 43 of these samples (57%), showing a sperm observation rate approximately twice as high as that of the conventional cloacal massage method. We believe that this novel method will contribute to a better understanding of postcopulatory sexual selection in avian brood parasites and facilitate the process of sperm collection and artificial insemination in other medium-sized birds.

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About this article

A novel method to collect sperm from brood parasitic cuckoos: Urodeum stimulation (UroS) method

Show Author's information Hide Author's Information Heesoo Lee^{^a^,^b}, Hae-Ni Kim^{^a^,^b}, Jun-Seo Go^{^a^,^b}, Myeong-Chan Cha^{^a^,^b}, Seongho Yun^{^a^,^b}, Sue-Jeong Jin^{^a^,^b}, Jin-Won Lee^{^a^,^b}(

), Jeong-Chil Yoo^{^a^,^b}

Korea Institute of Ornithology, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea

Department of Biology, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea

Abstract

Keywords: Brood parasitism, Sexual selection, Semen collection, Cuculus cuckoos, Sperm competition

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Publication history

Received: 14 December 2022

Revised: 07 February 2023

Accepted: 10 February 2023

Published: 12 February 2023

Issue date: June 2023

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Acknowledgements

We thank Jisoo Han for helping us in the field and Geun-Won Bae for a useful comment. We are also grateful to Hye-Kyoung Moon for her valuable help in using a microscope. This research was financially supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by The Ministry of Education (NRF-2020R1I1A2063567), for which we are most grateful.

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