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Quasi-parasitism in birds

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Abstract

Our view of avian mating systems has been revolutionised by the use of molecular tools that have provided evidence supporting theoretical predictions that extrapair paternity (EPP) and intra-specific brood parasitism (IBP) would be widely observed alternative mating strategies in socially monogamous species. Quasi-parasitism (QP) is a third type of alternative mating strategy, where a female lays an egg in another female’s nest and that egg is fertilised by the male partner at the parasitised nest. In contrast to both EPP and IBP, QP has been reported in only 12 species to date. We explore reasons for the apparent rarity of QP in birds and conclude that it is only likely to be adaptive in a fairly restrictive set of circumstances. We also review all of the evidence for the occurrence of QP in birds and find that it is far more limited than generally believed, as many apparent examples may be explained by rapid mate--switching or errors in molecular analysis of parentage. We suggest a number of criteria that need to be met for an unequivocal demonstration that QP has actually occurred.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Tim Birkhead, Tim Birt, Steve Lougheed, and Brenda Saunders for useful discussion; Ken Otter, Henry Nicholls and Allan Mee for access to their unpublished data; and Andrew Cockburn as well as three anonymous reviewers for a raft of useful comments on the manuscript. Simon Griffith is supported by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship.

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Author notes

  1. Simon C. Griffith

    Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College at Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7PY, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK

    Simon C. Griffith

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Earth and Marine Sciences Building, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA

    Bruce E. Lyon

  3. Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada

    Robert Montgomerie

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  1. Simon C. Griffith
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  2. Bruce E. Lyon
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  3. Robert Montgomerie
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Correspondence to Simon C. Griffith.

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Communicated by: A. Cockburn

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Griffith, S.C., Lyon, B.E. & Montgomerie, R. Quasi-parasitism in birds. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 56, 191–200 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-004-0766-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-004-0766-9

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