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Avian Research 2016, 7(1): 21 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-016-0057-y
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Egg-spot matching in common cuckoo parasitism of the oriental reed warbler: effects of host nest availability and egg rejection

Show Author's Information Donglai Li1,†,  Yanan Ruan1,†,  Ying Wang1,  Alan K. Chang1,  Dongmei Wan1( ),  Zhengwang Zhang2
Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource and Epidemic Disease Prevention, College of Life Sciences, Liaoning University, Shenyang 110036, People's Republic of China
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, People's Republic of China

†Donglai Li and Yanan Ruan contributed equally to this work

Keywords:
Egg rejection, Oriental Reed Warbler, Brood parasite, Cuckoo, Egg mimicry, Egg matching, Spot pattern, Parasitism rate
Cite this article:
Li D, Ruan Y, Wang Y, et al. Egg-spot matching in common cuckoo parasitism of the oriental reed warbler: effects of host nest availability and egg rejection. Avian Research, 2016, 7(1): 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-016-0057-y
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Abstract Full text About this article
Background

The success of cuckoo parasitism is thought to depend largely on the extent of egg matching between cuckoo and host eggs, since poor-matching cuckoo egg would lead to more frequent egg rejection by the host. In this study, we investigated how egg-spot matching between the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) and its host, the Oriental Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis) is affected by the local parasitism rate, nest availability in breeding synchronization and egg rejection.

Methods

We used the paired design of parasitized and their nearest non-parasitized nests where breeding occurred simultaneously to compare egg-spot matching. The image analysis was used to compare four eggshell pattern variables, namely spot size, density, coverage on the different areas of egg surface, and the distribution on the whole egg surface. Egg recognition experiments were conducted to test the effect of egg spots on egg rejection by the host.

Results

Our results show that much better matching in almost all spot parameters tested on the side of the egg and the spot distribution on the whole egg occurred in parasitized nests than in non-parasitized nests. Matching of spot density between cuckoo and host eggs in parasitized nests increased with the synchronization between temporal availability of nests and the egg-laying period of female cuckoos. Egg recognition experiments in which the warbler eggs were deliberately painted with extra spots led to a significantly higher egg rejection rate (78.3%) than of unpainted eggs.

Conclusion

Our data suggest that both the high temporal encounter rate between cuckoo and warbler nests as well as the high egg rejection ability of the host are important factors for egg-spot matching of the cuckoos.


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About this article

Egg-spot matching in common cuckoo parasitism of the oriental reed warbler: effects of host nest availability and egg rejection

Show Author's information Donglai Li1,†, Yanan Ruan1,†, Ying Wang1, Alan K. Chang1, Dongmei Wan1( ), Zhengwang Zhang2
Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource and Epidemic Disease Prevention, College of Life Sciences, Liaoning University, Shenyang 110036, People's Republic of China
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, People's Republic of China

†Donglai Li and Yanan Ruan contributed equally to this work

Abstract

Background

The success of cuckoo parasitism is thought to depend largely on the extent of egg matching between cuckoo and host eggs, since poor-matching cuckoo egg would lead to more frequent egg rejection by the host. In this study, we investigated how egg-spot matching between the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) and its host, the Oriental Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis) is affected by the local parasitism rate, nest availability in breeding synchronization and egg rejection.

Methods

We used the paired design of parasitized and their nearest non-parasitized nests where breeding occurred simultaneously to compare egg-spot matching. The image analysis was used to compare four eggshell pattern variables, namely spot size, density, coverage on the different areas of egg surface, and the distribution on the whole egg surface. Egg recognition experiments were conducted to test the effect of egg spots on egg rejection by the host.

Results

Our results show that much better matching in almost all spot parameters tested on the side of the egg and the spot distribution on the whole egg occurred in parasitized nests than in non-parasitized nests. Matching of spot density between cuckoo and host eggs in parasitized nests increased with the synchronization between temporal availability of nests and the egg-laying period of female cuckoos. Egg recognition experiments in which the warbler eggs were deliberately painted with extra spots led to a significantly higher egg rejection rate (78.3%) than of unpainted eggs.

Conclusion

Our data suggest that both the high temporal encounter rate between cuckoo and warbler nests as well as the high egg rejection ability of the host are important factors for egg-spot matching of the cuckoos.

Keywords: Egg rejection, Oriental Reed Warbler, Brood parasite, Cuckoo, Egg mimicry, Egg matching, Spot pattern, Parasitism rate

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Publication history
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Publication history

Received: 05 August 2016
Accepted: 09 November 2016
Published: 21 November 2016
Issue date: January 2016

Copyright

© The Author(s) 2016.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31301888 and 31672316 to DL), the General Scientific Research Project of the Education Department of Liaoning Province (L2015196 to DL) and the Open Fund of the Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Sciences and Ecological Engineering, Beijing Normal University (K1401 to DL). We are grateful to two anonymous referees for constructive comments that significantly improved the manuscript. We would like to thank Yuxiang Li and Changbo Fu from the Liaohe Delta National Nature Reserve Management Bureau for their permission to undertake this study. We are also grateful to Elyse Iemola, Lei Zhang, Hongwei Wei, Xinghai Sun, Qingbin Wang and Long Guo for their assistance in the fieldwork.

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