Nest sanitation as an effective defence against brood parasitism

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68081766%3A_____%2F22%3A00558908" target="_blank" >RIV/68081766:_____/22:00558908 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/00216208:11310/22:10451686 RIV/00216224:14310/22:00129319

Result on the web

<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-022-01646-0" target="_blank" >https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-022-01646-0</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10071-022-01646-0" target="_blank" >10.1007/s10071-022-01646-0</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Nest sanitation as an effective defence against brood parasitism

Original language description

Egg rejection is a crucial defence strategy against brood parasitism that requires the host to correctly recognise the foreign egg. Rejection behaviour has, thus, evolved in many hosts, facilitated by the visual differences between the parasitic and host eggs, and driving hosts to rely on colour and pattern cues. On the other hand, the need to recognise non-egg-shaped objects to carry out nest sanitation led birds to evolve the ability to discriminate and eject objects using mainly shape cues. However, little is known regarding the evolutionary significance of rejection behaviour in general and the cognitive processes underlying it. Here, we investigated the response of the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) during pre-laying and laying stages to four objects types that differed in shape (eggs vs stars) and colour/pattern (mimetic vs non-mimetic) to investigate (1) what cognitive mechanisms are involved in object discrimination and (2) whether egg rejection is a direct defence against brood parasitism, or simply a product of nest sanitation. We found that swallows ejected stars more often than eggs in both stages, indicating that swallows possess a template for the shape of their eggs. Since the effect of colour/pattern on ejection decisions was minor, we suggest that barn swallows have not evolved a direct defence against brood parasitism but instead, egg ejection might be a product of their well-developed nest sanitation behaviour. Nonetheless, the fact that mimetic eggs were ejected especially in the pre-laying stage shows that nest sanitation could be an effective defence against poorly timed brood parasitism.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10615 - Ornithology

Project

Result was created during the realization of more than one project. More information in the Projects tab.

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2022

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Animal Cognition

ISSN

1435-9448

e-ISSN

1435-9456

Volume of the periodical

25

Issue of the periodical within the volume

4

Country of publishing house

DE - GERMANY

Number of pages

12

Pages from-to

991-1002

UT code for WoS article

000819711200001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85133239964