Does the cuckoo benefit from laying unusually strong eggs?

@article{Antonov2008DoesTC,
  title={Does the cuckoo benefit from laying unusually strong eggs?},
  author={Anton Antonov and B{\aa}rd G Stokke and Arne Moksnes and Eivin R{\o}skaft},
  journal={Animal Behaviour},
  year={2008},
  volume={76},
  pages={1893-1900}
}
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21 Citations
Background Citations
8
Results Citations
1

21 Citations

Eggshell characteristics and yolk composition in the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus: are they adapted to brood parasitism?
TLDR
The results suggest that cuckoo females increase the size, growth rate and competitive ability of their young by providing them with more nutrients and more dietary antioxidants for embryonic development, and not through elevated yolk testosterone or antibody levels.
Why do brood parasitic birds lay strong-shelled eggs?
TLDR
How quanti-cation of rejection modes (grasp ejection, puncture ejection and desertion) may disclose the validity of the puncture resistance hypothesis is discussed, and proposals for future studies to test their validity are provided.
Egg laying behavior of common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus): Data based on field video-recordings
TLDR
It is concluded that common cuckoos change their behavior when hosts are present at the nest, with a set of behaviors performed to deal with host attack and successfully complete parasitic egg-laying regardless of time of day.
Post-ejection nest-desertion of common cuckoo hosts: a second defense mechanism or avoiding reduced reproductive success?
TLDR
It is concluded that post-ejection nest-desertion is not a second antiparasite mechanism, which might serve as a redundant antiparAsite defense, but a reaction to typically small and further decreased clutch size.
Evidence for egg discrimination preceding failed rejection attempts in a small cuckoo host
TLDR
This is the first demonstration of a cuckoo host discriminating against real parasitic eggs but often accepting them, and results show that in host species experiencing difficulties in performing puncture ejection, non-mimetic cuckoos eggs may avoid rejection by means of their unusually high structural strength.
University of Groningen Egg rejection in blackbirds Turdus merula
TLDR
The results considered together support the IBP hypothesis, indicating that recognition and rejection of parasitic eggs in blackbirds have probably evolved due to previous cuckoo parasitism, resulting in a successful resistance against interspecific brood parasitism.
Alternative mechanisms of increased eggshell hardness of avian brood parasites relative to host species
TLDR
Eggshell characteristics did not differ between parasite eggs sampled from different host nests in distant geographical sites, suggesting an evolutionarily shared microstructural mechanism of stronger parasite eggshells across diverse host-races of brood parasitic cuckoos.
Egg rejection in blackbirds Turdus merula: a by-product of conspecific parasitism or successful resistance against interspecific brood parasites?
TLDR
The results considered together support the IBP hypothesis, indicating that recognition and rejection of parasitic eggs in blackbirds have probably evolved due to previous cuckoo parasitism, resulting in a successful resistance against interspecific brood parasitism.
Selection of Cuculidae to the Hosts Based on the External Characteristics of the Eggs
TLDR
The studies represent an early stage in an attempt to strive the conservation of Cuculidae the bird hosts.
Brood Parasitism in Asian Cuckoos: Different Aspects of Interactions between Cuckoos and their Hosts in Bangladesh
TLDR
It is found that koel eggs were highly non-mimetic to those of common myna and long-tailed shrike, but showed good mimicry to house crow eggs, while cuckoo eggs showed excellent egg mimicry with the eggs of their black drongo hosts, as did common hawk cuckoos and piedcuckoos with their jungle babbler host.
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References

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Getting rid of the cuckoo Cuculus canorus egg: why do hosts delay rejection?
TLDR
The results are consistent with the hypothesis that host motivation when confronted with mimetic eggs needs to increase above a certain threshold before rejection behavior is released, which likely minimizes the risk of recognition errors.
Eggshell strength of an obligate brood parasite: a test of the puncture resistance hypothesis
TLDR
There was no evidence that egg damage was associated with cuckoo egg laying, and some support for the puncture resistance hypothesis for the occurrence of thick-shelled eggs in common cuckoos Cuculus canorus.
Is greater eggshell density an alternative mechanism by which parasitic cuckoos increase the strength of their eggs?
TLDR
Comparisons to two control groups demonstrated that the parasitic cuckoos have eggshells of significantly higher density than would be expected for their size, supporting the hypothesis that the higher eggshell density is an alternative mechanism by which some cuckoo increase the strength of their eggs.
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TLDR
Cuckoo eggs in nests of both these species show a, statistically significant, better mimicry with host eggs than in the nests of either Pied Flycatcher or Wheatear, thus supporting the main prediction.
AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF CO-EVOLUTION BETWEEN THE CUCKOO, CUCULUS CANORUS, AND ITS HOSTS. I. HOST EGG DISCRIMINATION
TLDR
Three results suggest that the egg discrimination by suitable hosts has evolved in response to cuckoo parasitism, and Species unsuitable as hosts mainly showed little if any rejection of model eggs unlike their own.
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TLDR
Experimental evidence that egg damage increased the breeding success of cuckoos when they laid late during the laying sequence of the magpie, and simulated laying behavior by the great spotted cuckoo support the predictions of the adaptation hypothesis, implying that eggDamage is not an incidental consequence of rapid egg laying, but an adaptation.
Conflict between egg recognition and egg rejection decisions in common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) hosts
Common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) are obligate brood parasites, laying eggs into nests of small songbirds. The cuckoo hatchling evicts all eggs and young from a nest, eliminating hosts’ breeding…
Constraints on egg discrimination and cuckoo-host co-evolution
TLDR
It is suggested that host egg variability is a major constraint on the learning mechanism of egg recognition, and justifies a prolonged learning mechanism in which a host can learn to recognize the variation range of its own eggs.
Cuckoos versus reed warblers: Adaptations and counteradaptations
AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF CO-EVOLUTION BETWEEN THE CUCKOO, CUCULUS CANORUS, AND ITS HOSTS. II. HOST EGG MARKINGS, CHICK DISCRIMINATION AND GENERAL DISCUSSION
TLDR
The variation in rejection of unlike eggs among different species of suitable cuckoo hosts is not related to the current costs or benefits of rejecting cuckoos, and it is suggested that the variation represents snap shots in evolutionary time of different stages of a species.
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