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Egg pecking and discrimination by female and male Brown-headed Cowbirds

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Abstract

Brood parasitic Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) remove host eggs in conjunction with parasitism, and also peck and destroy host eggs and nestlings in nests they have apparently not parasitized. Egg and nestling destruction by Brown-headed Cowbirds has been hypothesized to force hosts to re-nest, providing cowbirds with a future opportunity to parasitize a nest. We examined the egg-pecking behavior of captive male and female Brown-headed Cowbirds by presenting them with nests containing plaster eggs resembling a parasitized host nest to determine how often this behavior occurs. There was no significant difference in the number of female (67 %) and male (42 %) cowbirds that pecked both egg types, but females pecked more eggs than males, and both were more likely to peck host eggs than cowbird eggs. Our results demonstrate that both females and males peck eggs, and suggest that parasites may have an even greater effect on hosts than previously realized.

Zusammenfassung

Ei-Anpickverhalten und Ei-Erkennung bei weiblichen und männlichen Braunkopf-Kuhstärlingn

Brutparasitische Braunkopfkuhstärlinge (Molothrus ater) entfernen im Zuge des Parasitierens Eier ihres Wirts. Darüber hinaus zerstören sie Wirtseier durch Anpicken und töten Nestlinge aus Nestern, die sie offensichtlich nicht parasitiert haben. Die Hypothese zur Erklärung dieses Verhaltens war, dass das Zerstören von Eiern und Nestlingen durch Braunkopf-Kuhstärlinge die Wirte dazu treibt ein Ersatzgelege zu zeitigen, und damit den Kuhstärlingen eine zukünftige Gelegenheit liefert ein Nest zu parasitieren. Um festzustellen, wie häufig Ei-Anpicken auftritt, untersuchten wir dieses Verhalten bei männlichen und weiblichen Braunkopf-Kuhstärlingen in Gefangenschaft, indem wir den Vögeln Nester mit Kneteiern präsentierten, die parasitierten Wirtsnestern ähnelten. Es fand sich kein signifikanter Unterschied zwischen der Anzahl der weiblichen (67 %) und der männlichen (42 %) Kuhstärlinge, die beide Ei-Typen anpickten, aber Weibchen pickten mehr Eier an als Männchen und beide Geschlechter pickten mit höherer Wahrscheinlichkeit Wirtseier als Kuhstärlings-Eier an. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sowohl Männchen als auch Weibchen Eier anpicken und deuten darauf hin, dass Brutparasiten einen noch deutlich größeren Einfluss auf ihre Wirte haben könnten, als bisher angenommen.

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Acknowledgments

M. Pheiffer allowed us to conduct research at Horn Field Campus. M. Dubina provided invaluable assistance by constructing the cages. M. Benson, L. Hawkins, M. Roberts, J. Schahl, and T. Welsh helped capture birds. Vanina Fiorini and Juan Reboreda provided valuable comments that helped improve the manuscript. This research was supported by the Western Illinois University Graduate Student Research Development Fund and the Illinois Ornithological Society.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL, 61455, USA

    Keriann M. Dubina & Brian D. Peer

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  1. Keriann M. Dubina
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  2. Brian D. Peer
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Correspondence to Brian D. Peer.

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Communicated by T. Friedl.

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Dubina, K.M., Peer, B.D. Egg pecking and discrimination by female and male Brown-headed Cowbirds. J Ornithol 154, 553–557 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-012-0916-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-012-0916-1

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