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Breeding success of a brood parasite is associated with social mating status of its host

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Abstract

Reproductive success of brood parasites varies considerably both among and within host species, mainly due to differences in host egg-rejection rates and survival of parasitic chicks. Here, we investigated the breeding success of the cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) in one of its major hosts, the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus), with respect to host social mating status. In this passerine, polygynous males provide less parental care to their young per nest than monogamous males. Consequently, their less-assisted females may fledge lower numbers of nestlings than monogamous females. This may be especially true for secondary females, which often receive limited or no paternal help with young at all. Based on these findings, we expected higher cuckoo reproductive success in nests of socially monogamous than polygynous great reed warbler males. More specifically, we predicted lower fledging success of cuckoo young in nests of secondary than primary or monogamous females. In line with the prediction, we found higher cuckoo fledging success in nests of monogamous than polygynous males, monogamous nests being more than twice as successful as secondary nests. We detected, however, only a tendency to lower cuckoo success in primary compared to monogamous nests and no differences between primary and secondary nests. Moreover, neither parasitism nor host egg-rejection rates differed among the nests of different status. Our results show, for the first time, that the social mating status of a host may influence the overall reproductive success of a brood parasite and thus should be considered in further studies.

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Acknowledgments

We thank T. Bolcková, M. Čapek, V. Jelínek, M. Kašová, K. Morongová, Z. Šebelíková, M. Šulc and B. Trnková for their invaluable assistance in the field. Suggestions of three anonymous referees helped to substantially improve the manuscript. The study was supported by the Slovak Grant Agency for Science (grant number 1/0566/09), the Grant Agency of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (grant number IAA600930903), the Czech Science Foundation (grant number P506/12/2404) and the Institutional Research Plan (RVO: 68081766). We are obliged to the Slovak Fishing Association, management of the Fish Farm Hodonín and local conservation authorities for the permissions to conduct the fieldwork.

Ethical standards

The work described here was done under licence and complied with the current laws of the countries in which it was performed. Licences to conduct the research and bird ringing in Slovakia were issued by the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic (licences number 269/132/05-5.1pil and 7230/2008-2.1pil). The fieldwork in the Czech Republic adhered to the Animal Care Protocol of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (licence number 0008/98-M103) and current Czech Law on the Protection of Animals against Mistreatment.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Trnava, Priemyselná 4, SK-918 43, Trnava, Slovakia

    Alfréd Trnka & Pavol Prokop

  2. Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., Květná 8, CZ-603 65, Brno, Czech Republic

    Milica Požgayová, Petr Procházka & Marcel Honza

  3. Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, SK-845 06, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Pavol Prokop

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  1. Alfréd Trnka
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  2. Milica Požgayová
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  3. Petr Procházka
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  4. Pavol Prokop
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  5. Marcel Honza
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Correspondence to Alfréd Trnka.

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Communicated by M. Soler

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Trnka, A., Požgayová, M., Procházka, P. et al. Breeding success of a brood parasite is associated with social mating status of its host. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 66, 1187–1194 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-012-1372-x

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