Cuckoos, Cowbirds and Other Cheats

@inproceedings{Davies2000CuckoosCA,
  title={Cuckoos, Cowbirds and Other Cheats},
  author={Nigel Davies and David Quinn},
  year={2000}
}
Acknowledgements ix 1. A monstrous outrage on maternal affection 1 2. One hundred brood parasites and some puzzles 11 3. The Common Cuckoo and its hosts 26 4. Co-evolution of host defences and Common Cuckoo trickery 43 5. How to spot a cuckoo egg 59 6. Driving parents cuckoo 70 7. Bronze-cuckoos in Africa and Australia 82 8. The non-evicting cuckoos: manipulative nestlings and Mafia tactics 98 9. Cuckoos versus hosts: who wins? 117 10. The Brown-headed Cowbird and its conquest of North America… 
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642 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
80
Background Citations
233
Methods Citations
7
Results Citations
14

642 Citations

Antiparasitic defenses in hosts of South American cowbirds
TLDR
The results show that most hosts, regardless of the presumed evolutionary time of interaction with the parasite, have evolved some type of antiparasitic defense.
Cryptic cuckoo eggs hide from competing cuckoos
TLDR
The results suggest that competition between cuckoos has been the key selective agent for egg crypsis, which may be favoured over mimicry in intraspecific arms races because it can reduce the risk of egg removal to levels below chance.
Dual parasitism of Fork-tailed Drongos by African and Jacobin Cuckoos
TLDR
B brood parasitism of Fork-tailed Drongos Dicrurus adsimilis in the southern Kalahari Desert is reported by both African Cuckoo Cuculus gularis and Jacobin Cuckoos Clamator jacobinus serratus.
Red-crested cardinal defences against shiny cowbird parasitism
TLDR
The antagonistic expression of antiparasitic defences in red-crested cardinals suggests that they may have lost the behaviour of aggression towards the parasite as a result of associated costs.
Rarely parasitized and unparasitized species mob and alarm call to cuckoos: implications for sparrowhawk mimicry by brood parasitic cuckoos
TLDR
Recent experiments support the long-standing hypothesis that Common Cuckoos are mimics of Eurasian Sparrowhawks and suggest that mimicry benefits the cuckoos by reducing the intensity of mobbing they suffer near host nests, at least in some host populations, potentially increasing their access to the hosts' nests.
HOST USE BY SYMPATRIC COWBIRDS IN
TLDR
Sympatric avian brood parasites may compete for the same nests to parasitize, and Parasitism by sympatric cowbirds in southeastern Arizona appears to fit the pattern of alloxenia.
Retaliatory mafia behavior by a parasitic cowbird favors host acceptance of parasitic eggs
TLDR
Experimental evidence of mafia behavior in the brown-headed cowbird, a widely distributed North American brood parasite, is presented, suggesting that widespread predatory behaviors in cowbirds could slow the evolution of rejection behaviors and further threaten populations of some of the >100 species of regular cowbird hosts.
Behaviour of African turdid hosts towards experimental parasitism with artificial red-chested cuckoo Cuculus solitarius eggs
TLDR
The hypothesis that rejection behaviour in these two thrush species evolved as a defence against interspecific nest parasitism, with thrushes appearing to be ahead in this particular host-parasite arms race is supported.
Russet Sparrows spot alien chicks from their nests
TLDR
By rejecting nestlings of foreign species, Russet Sparrows have succeeded to escape from the brood parasitism by cuckoos and other parasites.
True recognition of nestlings by hosts selects for mimetic cuckoo chicks
TLDR
It is found that gerygones use true template-based recognition based on at least one visual chick trait (the number of hatchling down-feathers) that has facilitated the evolution of very rapid hatchling rejection and, in turn, striking visual mimicry of host young by little bronze-cuckoo chicks.
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