Abstract
Intraspecific brood parasitism is widespread among birds and provides clues for elucidating the evolutionary origin of interspecific brood parasitism. Studies suggest that brood parasitism does not occur at random, but that parasitic females select nests with advantages such as higher physical stability, reduced predation risk, or lower ectoparasite infestations. However, this evidence is sparse and mainly correlative. By experimentally increasing the abundance of Carnus hemapterus (a common, generalist and widespread ectoparasitic nest fly of a multitude of bird species) in half of the nests, we show that parasitic Spotless Starlings (Sturnus unicolor) avoid conspecific nests infested by ectoparasites. Since Carnus ectoparasites impinge costs on their avian nestling hosts, this avoidance response would be adaptive for parasitic Starlings. Further, we suggest a mechanism by which parasitic females may assess the level of ectoparasite infestation to select host nests accordingly: by using parasite cues such as faeces and blood remains. Additionally, these cues may be used by parasitic females for synchronization with the reproductive cycle of host females because ectoparasite cues also indicate that incubation has already commenced. Whatever the functionality, the mechanism suggested here may be employed by intra- and interspecific brood parasites, so it might represent a widespread strategy in nature.
Zusammenfassung
Intraspezifisch brutparasitäre Vögel meiden Wirtsnester mit Ektoparasitenbefall
Innerartlicher Brutparasitismus ist in der Vogelwelt weit verbreitet und liefert Hinweise zur Klärung des evolutionären Ursprungs zwischenartlichen Brutparasitismus. Untersuchungen legen nahe, dass sich Brutparasitismus nicht zufällig ereignet, sondern dass parasitische Weibchen Nester mit Vorzügen wie zum Beispiel höherer Stabilität, verringertem Prädationsrisiko oder niedrigerem Ektoparasitenbefall auswählen. Allerdings sind solche Belege spärlich und überwiegend korrelativ. Indem wir die Anzahl von Carnus hemapterus (einer häufigen, generalistischen und weit verbreiteten Gefiederfliegenart, die bei einer Vielzahl von Vogelarten vorkommt) in der Hälfte der Nester experimentell erhöhten, konnten wir zeigen, dass parasitische Einfarbstare (Sturnus unicolor) arteigene Nester mit Ektoparasitenbefall meiden. Da Ektoparasiten der Gattung Carnus ihren Wirtsnestlingen Kosten verursachen, wäre diese Vermeidungsreaktion für parasitische Stare adaptiv. Weiterhin postulieren wir einen Mechanismus, mittels dessen parasitische Weibchen den Grad des Ektoparasitenbefalls einschätzen können, um die Wirtsnester entsprechend auszuwählen: indem sie Parasitenspuren wie Kot oder Blutreste hinzuziehen. Zusätzlich können diese Anhaltspunkte den parasitischen Weibchen zur Synchronisierung mit dem Fortpflanzungszyklus der Wirtsweibchen dienen, da Ektoparasitenspuren auch ein Zeichen dafür sind, dass die Brut bereits begonnen hat. Ganz gleich, welche Funktion er hat, der hier vorgeschlagene Mechanismus könnte von inner- und zwischenartlichen Brutparasiten genutzt werden und somit eine in der Natur weit verbreitete Strategie darstellen.
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Acknowledgements
We thank J. M. Peralta-Sánchez, T. Pérez-Contreras, E. Pagani-Núñez and M. Martín-Vivaldi for collecting or facilitating access to some of the flies used in the experiments, and D. Parejo and N. Juárez for providing the photographs shown in the Online Resource. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for helpful feedback and suggestions, J. Moya-Laraño and J. M. Avilés for kindly providing statistical advice, and J. Moya-Laraño for suggesting the G-test.
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Financial support was provided by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and FEDER (CGL2013-48193-C3-1-P), the JAE programme to D. M. G. and M. R. R., and the Ramón y Cajal programme (Spain) and the Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación del Ecuador (SENESCYT) through a Prometeo research grant to G. T.
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All procedures were conducted under licence from the Environmental Department of the Regional Government of Andalusía, Spain (reference SGYB/FOA/AFR). All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.
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Communicated by F. Bairlein.
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Tomás, G., Martín-Gálvez, D., Ruiz-Rodríguez, M. et al. Intraspecific avian brood parasites avoid host nests infested by ectoparasites. J Ornithol 158, 561–567 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-016-1409-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-016-1409-4