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Brown-and-yellow marshbirds reduce their acceptance threshold of mimetic brood parasite eggs in the presence of non-mimetic eggs

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Abstract

The recognition and subsequent rejection of brood parasite eggs is one of the most commonly observed defensive behaviors of the host. The brown-and-yellow marshbird (Pseudoleistes virescens) is a common host of the shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis). This host recognizes and rejects immaculate white eggs of the cowbird, but accepts this bird’s spotted eggs. We assessed the acceptance threshold hypothesis which proposes that parasite egg recognition is context-dependent. We experimentally parasitized host nests with a spotted cowbird egg and simultaneously added: (1) one novel egg with spots similar to those of a cowbird egg but on a blue background or (2) one immaculate white cowbird egg. In this setting, 78 % of the novel blue egg with spots and 77 % of the cowbird’s immaculate white eggs were quickly recognized and rejected. The rejection frequency of spotted cowbird eggs was also high (60 %) and was not related to the type of egg which had been added to the host nest together with the spotted cowbird egg. This rejection frequency of spotted cowbird eggs is higher than the 21 % that we previously found in a similar experimental setting but in which the spotted cowbird egg was added singly to the host nest. These results support the acceptance threshold hypothesis that predicts an adaptive modulation of the antiparasite defence when the perceived risk of parasitism is high.

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Acknowledgments

We thank M. Beade, and M. Busai for logistical support at the study area. We especially thank V. Ferretti for comments on an earlier version of this manuscript for checking the English grammar. Daniel Hanley and an anonymous reviewer provided useful comments to a previous version of the manuscript. This study was supported by grants from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas of Argentina (PIP112-200901-00011 to GJF and PICT 11420100100016 to MEM).

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  1. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución–IEGEBA CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón II Ciudad Universitaria, C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Myriam E. Mermoz, Carolina Haupt & Gustavo J. Fernández

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  1. Myriam E. Mermoz
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  2. Carolina Haupt
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  3. Gustavo J. Fernández
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Correspondence to Myriam E. Mermoz.

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Mermoz, M.E., Haupt, C. & Fernández, G.J. Brown-and-yellow marshbirds reduce their acceptance threshold of mimetic brood parasite eggs in the presence of non-mimetic eggs. J Ethol 34, 65–71 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-015-0447-3

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