Egg recognition and counting reduce costs of avian conspecific brood parasitism

@article{Lyon2003EggRA,
  title={Egg recognition and counting reduce costs of avian conspecific brood parasitism},
  author={Bruce E. Lyon},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2003},
  volume={422},
  pages={495-499}
}
  • B. Lyon
  • Published 3 April 2003
  • Biology
  • Nature
Birds parasitized by interspecific brood parasites often adopt defences based on egg recognition but such behaviours are puzzlingly rare in species parasitized by members of the same species. Here I show that conspecific egg recognition is frequent, accurate and used in three defences that reduce the high costs of conspecific brood parasitism in American coots. Hosts recognized and rejected many parasitic eggs, reducing the fitness costs of parasitism by half. Recognition without rejection also… 
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249 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
11
Background Citations
122
Methods Citations
5
Results Citations
7

249 Citations

House sparrows selectively eject parasitic conspecific eggs and incur very low rejection costs
TLDR
New evidence is provided showing that the house sparrow actually has a fine capacity to discriminate conspecific eggs and to eject them while incurring very low rejection costs, which implies that it is a newly described example of an altricial species in which egg ejection has evolved and is maintained in response to intraspecific brood parasites.
EGG size matching by an intraspecific brood parasite
TLDR
The hypothesis that intraspecific brood parasitism within precocial birds can be a risky strategy in that hatch synchrony is essential to reproductive success is supported, as well as the precision with which parasitic brant match the egg size of hosts in this study.
Why Do Birds Lay Eggs in Conspecifics’ Nests?
TLDR
This work reviews studies that investigate life history aspects of CBP, a female alternative reproductive behavior that resembles interspecific brood parasitism, except that parasitic females lay eggs in the nests of conspecifics.
Interspecific egg rejection as ecological collateral damage from selection driven by conspecific brood parasitism
Sex roles in egg recognition and egg polymorphism in avian brood parasitism
TLDR
The model shows that male recognition by learning is disadvantageous unless the host has monomorphic eggs and suggests that interclutch variation in egg phenotype is the key to understanding the evolution of egg recognition and the sex involved.
A Simple Rule Reduces Costs of Extragroup Parasitism in a Communally Breeding Bird
Costs and response to conspecific brood parasitism by colonial red-breasted mergansers
TLDR
The study indicates that costs of CBP to hosts during nesting may be limited to those red-breasted mergansers incubating the largest clutches, and it raises questions about the adaptive significance of deserting a parasitized clutch.
Parasitic Behaviour of Interspecific Brood Parasitic Females 18
TLDR
This chapter summarizes information on the behaviour of parasitic females from the moment they start searching for host nests until they parasitize them, and reviews the different hypotheses for explaining the recognition of hosts and the cues used to search for and locate their nests.
Parasitic Behaviour of Interspecific Brood Parasitic Females
TLDR
This chapter summarizes information on the behaviour of parasitic females from the moment they start searching for host nests until they parasitize them, and reviews the different hypotheses for explaining the recognition of hosts and the cues used to search for and locate their nests.
Egg Recognition in Japanese Quail
TLDR
It is shown that females can learn to recognise the salient characteristics of eggs from a given clutch and can use this learned template to discriminate against foreign eggs with a high probability when the eggs are phenotypically distinct.
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