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Behavioral Ecology of Neotropical Birds pp 103–131Cite as

Obligate Brood Parasitism on Neotropical Birds

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Abstract

Obligate brood parasites neither build their own nests nor rear their offspring. Instead, they lay their eggs in nests of individuals of other species (hosts) that take care of the parasite’s progeny. Brood parasitism frequently imposes fitness costs on hosts through partial or total reproductive losses. These costs favor the evolution of defenses against parasitism in host populations, which, in turn, may select for counterdefenses in the parasites. As a result, host–parasite interactions can lead to an evolutionary arms race that is manifested in a range of reciprocal adaptations. Because of this interplay between parasites and their hosts, these systems are excellent models for the study of coevolution. In the Neotropics, there are eight brood-parasitic species distributed among three groups: four cowbirds (Icteridae), three New World cuckoos (Cuculidae), and the black-headed duck (Anatidae), the only known precocial brood parasite. In this chapter, we present a compendium of the characteristics and behaviors of these species that can help our understanding on how natural selection can shape the interactions between species.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to Spencer Sealy for their helpful comments and suggestions for the improvement of the chapter. We thank Jordan Herman for her comments on an earlier draft of this chapter. Our research is funded by the Universidad de Buenos Aires and Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Instituto IEGEBA (CONICET-UBA), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Vanina Dafne Fiorini, María C. De Mársico, Cynthia A. Ursino & Juan Carlos Reboreda

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  1. Vanina Dafne Fiorini
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  2. María C. De Mársico
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  3. Cynthia A. Ursino
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  4. Juan Carlos Reboreda
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Correspondence to Vanina Dafne Fiorini .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, University of Buenos Aires, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Juan Carlos Reboreda

  2. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, University of Buenos Aires, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Vanina Dafne Fiorini

  3. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, University of Buenos Aires, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Diego Tomás Tuero

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Fiorini, V.D., De Mársico, M.C., Ursino, C.A., Reboreda, J.C. (2019). Obligate Brood Parasitism on Neotropical Birds. In: Reboreda, J., Fiorini, V., Tuero, D. (eds) Behavioral Ecology of Neotropical Birds. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14280-3_6

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