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Nestmate killing by obligate brood parasitic chicks: is this linked to obligate siblicidal behavior?

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Abstract

The remarkable phenomenon of nestmate killing behavior among some birds that are obligate brood parasites (OBP) has fascinated scientific researchers for hundreds of years. This “nestmate-cide” behavior has been found in two clades of OBP birds (most OBP cuckoos and all the parasitic honeyguides), though it is absent in parasitic Clamator cuckoos, viduid finches, cowbirds, and the single parasitic duck. Several hypotheses have been developed to explain the existence of nestmate toleraters, including recent acquisition of OBP and insufficient time to evolve nestmate killing behavior, parasitizing a host with a brood reducers strategy, or the occurrence of high costs for killing nestmates. However, none of these hypotheses have provided a complete explanation for the origin of chick killing behavior in OBP birds and its “fixed” distribution pattern within certain clades. There are similarities in the process and consequences of nestmate killing behavior in obligate brood parasites with that of obligate siblicidal behavior. After mapping these two behaviors on recent avian phylogenies, we found that the two clades of brood parasites that exhibit nestmate killing behavior are both within larger clades that contain species with obligate siblicidal behavior. Since no previous studies have considered the potential linkage between obligate siblicidal behavior and parasitic chick killing behavior, we proposed that the evolution of the potential for siblicide may also result in the potential for parasitic chicks to kill nestmates, and that siblicidal behavior may even promote the origin of this “killing-type” OBP.

Zusammenfassung

Das Töten von Mitnestlingen obligat brutparasitischer Vögel: Besteht ein Zusammenhang mit obligatem Geschwistermordverhalten?

Für Jahrhunderte hat Wissenschaftler das bemerkenswerte Phänomen fasziniert, dass manche, obligat brutparasitische (OBP) Vogelarten ihre Mitnestlinge töten. Dieses „Mitnestlingszid“-Verhalten wurde für zwei Zweige OBP Vögel nachgewiesen (die meisten OBP Kuckucke und alle parasitischen Honiganzeiger), findet sich allerdings nicht in parasitischen Kuckucken der Gattung Clamator, Finken aus der Familie Viduidae, Kuhstärlingen und der einzigen parasitischen Entenart. Zur Erklärung der Existenz von Brutparasiten, die ihre Mitnestlinge tolerieren, wurden mehrere Hypothesen aufgestellt, unter anderem die kürzliche Entstehung von OBP und die damit fehlende Zeit Mitnestlingsrmord zu evolvieren, einen Wirt mit Brutreduziererstrategie zu parasitieren, oder hohe Kosten für den Geschwistermord. Dennoch konnte keine dieser Hypothesen eine vollständige Erklärung für die Entstehung des Verhaltens von OBP Vögeln Mit-Nestlinge zu töten und dessen „fixierten“ Verteilungsmusters innerhalb bestimmter Zweige liefern. Es gibt allerdings Ähnlichkeiten im Vorgang und in den Konsequenzen des Tötungsverhaltens von Mitnestlingen obligater Brutparasiten mit dem von obligatem Geschwistermordverhalten. Nach Kartierung beider Verhaltensweisen auf einer modernen phylogenetischen Vogelsystematik fanden wir heraus, dass sich beide brutparasitischen Zweige, die Mit-Nestlingsmordverhalten zeigen, innerhalb größerer Zweige befinden, die Arten mit obligatem Geschwistermordverhalten beinhalten. Da keine frühere Studie diesen potentiellen Zusammenhang zwischen obligatem Geschwistermord- und parasitischem Nestlingsmordverhalten in Betracht gezogen hat, schlagen wir vor, dass die Evolution einer Veranlagung zu Geschwistermord gleichzeitig ein Potential für parasitische Nestlinge darstellt, ihre Mitnestlinge zu töten, und dass Geschwistermordverhalten sogar die Entstehung des „Mord-Typus“ unter OBP begünstigt.

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Acknowledgments

This paper benefited from helpful suggestions by the editor, anonymous reviewers, and the members from Kimball/Braun laboratory. We really appreciate the thorough review and great comments given by Edward Braun and Colette St Mary. We are also grateful to Zhengwang Zhang for a consistent support during the process of this paper. N.W. was supported on a fellowship from the China Scholarship Council and a Singer Seed Grant to R.T.K. and E.L.B.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Florida, P.O. Box 118525, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Ning Wang & Rebecca T. Kimball

  2. MOE Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Sciences and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Ning Wang

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  1. Ning Wang
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  2. Rebecca T. Kimball
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Correspondence to Rebecca T. Kimball.

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Communicated by T. Friedl.

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Wang, N., Kimball, R.T. Nestmate killing by obligate brood parasitic chicks: is this linked to obligate siblicidal behavior?. J Ornithol 153, 825–831 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-011-0800-4

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