Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Egg-spot pattern rather than egg colour affects conspecific egg rejection in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus)

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Brood parasitism could be a selective pressure on each female to have a type of egg that permits recognition. House sparrows (Passer domesticus) undergo conspecific brood parasitism and can recognise parasitic eggs. In this study, we analyse the effect of relative size in experimental parasitic eggs compared to the host eggs. We modified egg colour and the spot pattern to determine the influence of these characteristics on egg rejection. Furthermore, we examine whether egg rejection increases with “stimulus summation”. Our results show that egg rejection is not affected by relative egg size. However, changes in the spot pattern proved to exert the highest influence on egg rejection (32.4% of trials), significantly higher than when only egg colour is changed (3.8%). Therefore, our results suggest that parasitism may be a pressure favouring the maintenance of spotted eggs in house sparrow.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Afonso S, Vanore G, Batle A (1999) Protoporphyrin IX and oxidative stress. Free Radic Res 31:161–170

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Andersson M (1984) Brood parasitism within species. In: Barnard CJ (ed) Producers and scroungers: strategies for exploitation and parasitism. Chapman & Hall, London, pp 195–228

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson TR (1998) Cessation of breeding in the multi-brooded house sparrow, Passser domesticus. Int Stud Sparrows 25:3–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson TR (2006) Biology of the ubiquitous house sparrow. From genes to populations. Oxford University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Avilés JM, Soler JJ, Soler M, Møller AP (2004) Rejection of parasitic eggs in relation to egg appearance in magpies. Anim Behav 67:951–958

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Avilés JM, Stokke BG, Moknes A, Røskaft E, Møller AP (2007) Environmental conditions influence egg colour of reed warblers, Acrocephalus scirpaceus, and their parasite, the common cuckoo, Cuculus canorus. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 61:475–485

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cherry MI, Bennett ATD, Moskát C (2007) Cuckoo egg matching, host intra-clutch variation and egg rejection by great reed warblers. Naturwissenschaften 94:441–447

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Christians JK (2002) Avian egg size: variation within species and inflexibility within individuals. Biol Rev 77:1–26

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Collias NE (1984) Egg measurements and colouration throughout life in the village weaverbird, Ploceus cucullatus. In: J Ledger (ed) P Fifth Pan-African Ornithol C (1980), Johannesburg, South African Ornithological Society, pp. 461-475

  • Collias EC (1993) Inheritance of egg-colour polymorphism in the village weaver, Ploceus cucullatus. Auk 110:683–692

    Google Scholar 

  • Cordero PJ, Wetton JH, Parkin DT (1999) Extra-pair paternity and male badge size in the house sparrow. J Avian Biol 30:97–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cramp S, Perrins CM (1994) The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies NB (2000) Cuckoos, cowbirds and other cheats. T and AD Poyser, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies NB, Brooke ML (1989a) An experimental study of co-evolution between the cuckoo Cuculus canorus, and its hosts. I. Host egg discrimination. J Anim Ecol 58:207–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies NB, Brooke ML (1989b) An experimental study of co-evolution between the cuckoo Cuculus canorus, and its hosts. II. Host egg markings, chick discrimination and general discussion. J Anim Ecol 58:225–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson DG (1964) The eggs of the house sparrow. Notornis 11:187–189

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans PGH (1988) Intraspecific nest parasitism in the European starling, Sturnus vulgaris. Anim Behav 36:1282–1294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fai AHT, Cornelius PL (1996) Approximate F-tests of multiple degree of freedom hypotheses in generalized least squares analyses of unbalanced split-plot experiments. J Stat Comp Simul 54:363–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman S (1988) Egg variability and conspecific nest parasitism in the Ploceus weaverbirds. Ostrich 59:49–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Gosler AG, Barnett PR, Reynolds SJ (2000) Inheritance and variation in eggshell patterning in the great tit Parus major. Proc R Soc Lond Ser B-Biol 267:2469–2473

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gosler AG, Higham JP, Reynolds SJ (2005) Why are birds' eggs speckled? Ecol Lett 8:1105–1113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison C (1991) Guía de campo de los nidos, huevos y polluelos de las aves de España y Europa. Omega, Barcelona

    Google Scholar 

  • Hauber ME, Sherman PW (2001) Self-referent phenotype matching: theoretical considerations and empirical evidence. Trends Neurosci 24:609–616

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hauber ME, Moskát C, Ban M (2006) Experimental shift in hosts' acceptance threshold of inaccurate-mimic brood parasite eggs. Biol Lett 2:177–180

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heij CJ (1986) Nest of house sparrows, Passer domesticus (L.) composition and occupants. Int Stud Sparrows 13:28–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Hepp GR, Kennamer RA, Harvey WF (1990) Incubation as a reproductive cost in female wood ducks. Auk 107:756–764

    Google Scholar 

  • Higham JP, Gosler AG (2006) Speckled eggs: water-loss and incubation behaviour in the great tit Parus major. Oecologia 149:561–570

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson WM (1998) Egg discrimination and egg-colour variability in the Northern Masked Weaver. The importance of Conspecific versus Interspecific Parasitism. In: Rothstein SI, Robinson SK (eds) Parasitic birds and their host. Studies in coevolution. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 407–416

    Google Scholar 

  • Kendra PE, Roth RR, Tallamy DW (1988) Conspecific brood parasitism in the house sparrow. Wilson Bull 100:80–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy GY, Vevers HG (1976) A survey of avian eggshell pigments. Comp Biochem Physiol B 55:117–123

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kilner RM (2006) The evolution of egg colour and patterning in birds. Biol Rev 81:383–406

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kulczycki A, Mazur-Gierasinska M (1968) Nesting of house sparrow Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758). Acta Zool Crac 13:231–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Lack D (1958) The significance of the colour of turdine eggs. Ibis 100:145–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lahti DC (2005) Evolution of bird eggs in the absence of cuckoo parasitism. Proc Nat Acad Sci U S A 102:18057–18062

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lahti DC (2006) Persistence of egg recognition in the absence of cuckoo brood parasitism: pattern and mechanism. Evolution 60:157–168

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lahti DC, Lahti AR (2002) How precise is egg discrimination in weaverbirds? Anim Behav 63:1135–1142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lessells CM, Boag PT (1987) Unrepeatable repeatabilities: a common mistake. Auk 104:116–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Littell RC, Milliken GA, Stroup WW, Wolfinger RD (1996) SAS System for mixed models. SAS Institute, Cary

    Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd P, Plaganyi E, Lepage D, Little RM, Crowet TM (2000) Nest-site selection, egg pigmentation and clutch predation in the ground-nesting Namaqua Sandgrouse Pterocles namaqua. Ibis 142:123–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • López de Hierro MDG, Soler M (2006) Variabilidad intrapuesta y rechazo de huevos parásitos según su diferencia con la puesta hospedadora en el Gorrión Común (Passer domesticus). XI Congreso Nacional y VIII Iberoamericano de Etología, Tenerife, España

  • López de Hierro MDG, Ryan P (2008) Nest defence and egg rejection in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) as protection against conspecific brood parasitism. Behaviour 145:949–964

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lotem A, Nakamura H, Zahavi A (1995) Constraints on egg discrimination and cuckoo-host co-evolution. Anim Behav 49:1185–1209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowther PE (1988) Spotting pattern of the last laid egg of the house sparrow. J Field Ornithol 59:51–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowther PE (1990) Breeding biology of house sparrow: patterns of intra-clutch variation in egg size. In: Pinowski J, Summers-Smith JD (eds) Granivorous birds in the agricultural landscape. PWN-Polish Scientific Publishers, Warsaw, pp 138–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Manwell C, Baker CMA (1975) Molecular genetics of avian proteins. XIII. Protein polymorphism in three species of Australian passerines. Aust J Biol Scien 28:545–557

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marchetti K (2000) Egg rejection in a passerine bird: size does matter. Anim Behav 59:877–883

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marcos J, Monrós JS (1994) Variación intrapuesta del peso del huevo del Gorrión Común en el naranjal valenciano. In: Manrique J, Sánchez A, Suárez F, Yanes M (eds) Actas de las XII Jornadas Ornitológicas Españolas. Instituto de Estudios Almerienses, El Ejido, pp 267–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-de la Puente J, Merino S, Moreno J, Tomás G, Morales J, Lobato E, García-Fraile S, Martínez J (2007) Are eggshell spottiness and colour indicators of health and condition in blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus? J Avian Biol 38:377–384

    Google Scholar 

  • Martín-Vivaldi M, Soler M, Møller AP (2002) Unrealistically high costs of rejecting artificial models for cuckoo Cuculus canorus host. J Avian Biol 33:295–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miksik I, Holan V, Deyl Z (1996) Avian eggshell pigments and their variability. Comp Biochem Physiol B 113:607–612

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moksnes A, Røskaft E, Korsnes L (1993) Rejection of cuckoo, Cuculus canorus, eggs by meadow pipits, Anthus pratensis. Behav Ecol 4:120–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Møller AP (1987) Intraspecific nest parasitism and anti-parasite behaviour in swallows, Hirundo rustica. Anim Behav 35:247–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno-Rueda G, Soler M (2001) Reconocimiento de huevos en el Gorrión común, Passer domesticus, una especie con Parasitismo de Cría Intraespecífico. Ardeola 48:225–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreno-Rueda G, Soler M (2002) Cría en cautividad del Gorrión Común Passer domesticus. Ardeola 49:11–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreno J, Osorno JL (2003) Avian egg colour and sexual selection: does eggshell pigmentation reflect female condition and genetic quality. Ecol Lett 6:803–806

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moskat C, Szekely T, Cuthill IC, Kisbenedek T (2008a) Hosts' responses to parasitic eggs: which cues elicit hosts' egg discrimination? Ethology 114:186–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Moskat C, Avilés JM, Bán M, Hargitai R, Zölei A (2008b) Experimental support for the use of egg uniformity in parasite egg discrimination by cuckoo host. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 62:1885–1890

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Payne RB (1974) The evolution of clutch size and reproductive rates in parasitic cuckoos. Evolution 28:169–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petrie M, Møller AP (1991) Laying eggs in other's nest: intraspecific brood parasitism. Tren Ecol Evol 6:315–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petrie M, Pinxten R, Eens M (2009) Moorhens have an internal representation of their own eggs. Naturwissenschaften 96:405–407

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Polaciková L, Honza M, Procházka P, Topercer J, Stokke BG (2007) Colour characteristics of the blunt pole: cues for recognition of parasitic eggs as revealed by reflectance spectrophotometry. Anim Behav 74:419–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rohwer FC, Freeman S (1989) The density of conspecific nest parasitism in birds. Cand J Zool 67:239–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothstein SI (1974) Mechanisms of avian egg recognition: possible learned and innate factors. Auk 91:796–807

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothstein SI (1975) Mechanisms of avian egg recognition: do birds know their own eggs? Anim Behav 23:268–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothstein SI (1978) Mechanisms of avian egg-recognition: additional evidence for learned components. Anim Behav 26:671–677

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothstein SI (1982) Mechanisms of avian egg recognition: which egg parameters elicit responses by rejecter species? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 11:229–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez JM, Corbacho C, Muñoz Del Viejo A, Parejo D (2004) Colony-site tenacity and egg color crypsis in the gullbilled tern. Waterbirds 27:21–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seel DC (1968) Clutch-size, incubation and hatching success in the house sparrow and tree sparrow Passer spp at Oxford. Ibis 110:270–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shan Y, Pepe J, Lu TH, Elbirt KK, Lambrecht RW (2000) Induction of the heme oxygenase-1 gene by metalloporphyrins. Arch Biochem Biophysiol 380:219–227

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Siegel S, Castellan NJ Jr (1998) Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Soler JJ, Soler M, Møller AP (2000) Host recognition of parasites eggs and the physical appearance of host eggs: the magpie and its brood parasite the great spotted cuckoo. Etología 8:9–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Soler JJ, Moreno J, Avilés JM, Møller AP (2005) Blue and green egg-color intensity is associated with parental effort and mating system in passerines: support for the sexual selection hypothesis. Evolution 59:636–644

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Solís JC, De Lope F (1995) Nest and egg crypsis in the ground-nesting stone curlew Burhinus oedicnemus. J Avian Biol 26:135–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spaw CD, Rohwer S (1987) A comparative study of eggshell thickness in cowbirds and other passerines. Condor 89:307–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stokke BG, Moksnes A, Røskaft E, Rudolfsen G, Honza M (1999) Rejection of artificial cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) eggs in relation to variation in egg appearance among reed warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus). Proc R Soc Lond B 266:1483–1488

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stokke BG, Moksnes A, Røskaft E (2002) Obligate brood parasites as selective agents for evolution of egg appearance in passerine birds. Evolution 56:199–205

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stokke BG, Rudolfsen G, Moksnes A, Røskaft E (2004) Rejection of conspecific eggs in chaffinches: the effect of age and clutch characteristics. Ethology 110:459–470

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Summers-Smith JD (1963) The house sparrow. Collins, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Swynnerton CF (1918) Rejections by birds of eggs unlike their own: with remarks on some of the cuckoo problems. Ibis 6:127–154 (10th Series)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinbergen N, Broekhuysen GJ, Feekes F, Houghton JCW, Kruuk H (1962) Egg shell removal by the blackheaded gull, Larus ridibundus: a behaviour component of camouflage. Behaviour 19:74–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood TJ, Sealy SG (2002) Adaptive significance of egg coloration. In: Deeming DC (ed) Avian incubation, behaviour, environment and evolution. Oxford UnivPress, Oxford, pp 280–289

    Google Scholar 

  • Underwood TJ, Sealy SG (2006) Parameters of brown-headed cowbird Molothrus ater egg discrimination in warbling vireos Vireo gilvus. J Avian Biol 37:457–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veiga JP (1990) A comparative study of reproductive adaptations in house and tree sparrows. Auk 107:45–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Veiga JP, Boto L (2000) Low frequency of extra-pair fertilisations in house sparrows breeding at high density. J Avian Biol 31:237–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Victoria JK (1972) Clutch characteristic and egg discriminative ability of the African village weaverbirds, Ploceus cucullatus. Ibis 114:367–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei R, Bitgood JJ, Dentine MR (1992) Inheritance of tinted eggshell colors in white-shell stocks. Poult Sci 71:406–418

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Williams TD (1994) Intraspecific variation in egg size and egg composition in birds: effects on offspring fitness. Biol Rev 68:35–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yom-Tov Y (1980) Intraspecific nest parasitism in birds. Biol Rev 55:93–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Manuel Soler and Tomás Pérez-Contreras for their extensive support and valuable comments to this study. The study was financed by the Junta de Andalucía through its support to the Comportamiento y Ecología Animal research group (RNM339). M.D.G.L.de H. was funded by a F.P.U. grant (Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte), and G.M-R. was funded by the University of Granada and the Spanish Government. David Nesbitt improved the English. Comments by anonymous referees greatly improved the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain

    M. Dolores G. López-de-Hierro & Gregorio Moreno-Rueda

  2. Konrad Lorenz Institut für Vergleichende Verhaltensforschung, Österreischische Academie der Wissenschaften, Vienna, Austria

    Gregorio Moreno-Rueda

  3. Cl. Arabial 79, Edificio Alhambra 4D, 18003, Granada, Spain

    M. Dolores G. López-de-Hierro

Authors
  1. M. Dolores G. López-de-Hierro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gregorio Moreno-Rueda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Dolores G. López-de-Hierro.

Additional information

Communicated by I. Cuthill

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

López-de-Hierro, M.D.G., Moreno-Rueda, G. Egg-spot pattern rather than egg colour affects conspecific egg rejection in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 64, 317–324 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-009-0811-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-009-0811-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation