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Avian Research 2019, 10(1): 47 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-019-0186-1
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Egg rejection behavior does not explain the lack of cowbird parasitism on an eastern North American population of Red-winged Blackbirds

Show Author's Information Justin J. Reel,  Todd J. Underwood ( )
Department of Biology, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA 19530, USA
Keywords:
Egg rejection, Brood parasitism, Geographic variation, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-winged Blackbird
Cite this article:
Reel JJ, Underwood TJ. Egg rejection behavior does not explain the lack of cowbird parasitism on an eastern North American population of Red-winged Blackbirds. Avian Research, 2019, 10(1): 47. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-019-0186-1
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Abstract Full text About this article
Background

Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus),hereafter red-wings,are much less frequently parasitized by Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) in eastern North America than in central North America and had not been recorded as hosts in our study area in southeastern Pennsylvania. Although hosts of Old World cuckoos (Cuculidae) often show geographic variation in egg rejection behavior,cowbird hosts typically exhibit uniform responses of all acceptance or all rejection of cowbird eggs. Thus,geographic variation in cowbird parasitism frequencies might reflect a different behavioral response to parasitism by hosts where only some populations reject parasitism. In this study,we tested whether egg rejection behavior may explain the lack of parasitism observed in our eastern red-wing population,which may provide insight into low parasitism levels across eastern North America.

Methods

We parasitized red-wing nests with model cowbird eggs to determine their response to parasitism. Nests were tested across three nest stages and compared to control nests with no manipulations. Because rejection differed significantly by stage,we compared responses separately for each nest stage. We also monitored other songbird nests to identify parasitism frequencies on all potential hosts.

Results

Red-wings showed significantly more rejections during the building stage,but not for the laying and incubation stages. Rejections during nest building involved mostly egg burials,which likely represent a continuation of the nest building process rather than true rejection of the cowbird egg. Excluding these responses,red-wings rejected 15% of cowbird eggs,which is similar to rejection levels from other studies and populations. The overall parasitism frequency on 11 species surveyed in our study area was only 7.4%.

Conclusions

Egg rejection behavior does not explain the lack of parasitism on red-wings in our eastern population. Alternatively,we suggest that cowbird preference for other hosts and the low abundance of cowbirds in the east might explain the lack of parasitism. Future research should also explore cowbird and host density and the makeup of the host community to explain the low levels of parasitism on red-wings across eastern North America because egg rejection alone is unlikely to explain this broad geographic trend.


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About this article

Egg rejection behavior does not explain the lack of cowbird parasitism on an eastern North American population of Red-winged Blackbirds

Show Author's information Justin J. Reel, Todd J. Underwood ( )
Department of Biology, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA 19530, USA

Abstract

Background

Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus),hereafter red-wings,are much less frequently parasitized by Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) in eastern North America than in central North America and had not been recorded as hosts in our study area in southeastern Pennsylvania. Although hosts of Old World cuckoos (Cuculidae) often show geographic variation in egg rejection behavior,cowbird hosts typically exhibit uniform responses of all acceptance or all rejection of cowbird eggs. Thus,geographic variation in cowbird parasitism frequencies might reflect a different behavioral response to parasitism by hosts where only some populations reject parasitism. In this study,we tested whether egg rejection behavior may explain the lack of parasitism observed in our eastern red-wing population,which may provide insight into low parasitism levels across eastern North America.

Methods

We parasitized red-wing nests with model cowbird eggs to determine their response to parasitism. Nests were tested across three nest stages and compared to control nests with no manipulations. Because rejection differed significantly by stage,we compared responses separately for each nest stage. We also monitored other songbird nests to identify parasitism frequencies on all potential hosts.

Results

Red-wings showed significantly more rejections during the building stage,but not for the laying and incubation stages. Rejections during nest building involved mostly egg burials,which likely represent a continuation of the nest building process rather than true rejection of the cowbird egg. Excluding these responses,red-wings rejected 15% of cowbird eggs,which is similar to rejection levels from other studies and populations. The overall parasitism frequency on 11 species surveyed in our study area was only 7.4%.

Conclusions

Egg rejection behavior does not explain the lack of parasitism on red-wings in our eastern population. Alternatively,we suggest that cowbird preference for other hosts and the low abundance of cowbirds in the east might explain the lack of parasitism. Future research should also explore cowbird and host density and the makeup of the host community to explain the low levels of parasitism on red-wings across eastern North America because egg rejection alone is unlikely to explain this broad geographic trend.

Keywords: Egg rejection, Brood parasitism, Geographic variation, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-winged Blackbird

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Publication history
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Publication history

Received: 01 August 2019
Accepted: 03 December 2019
Published: 26 December 2019
Issue date: January 2019

Copyright

© The Author(s) 2019.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

We thank Kutztown University and the Neag family for funding our research and the Reading Area Water Authority for permission to conduct our study at Lake Ontelaunee. We also thank Brian Peer, Spencer Sealy, and four anonymous reviewers for comments that improved our manuscript, Taylor Nash for field assistance, and Rudy Keller for advice on field sites. Finally, TJU thanks Hawk Mountain Sanctuary for research space and use of their library while revising our manuscript.

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