High synchrony of egg laying in common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) and their great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) hosts

0043863 - ÚBO 2007 RIV IT eng J - Journal Article
Moskát, C. - Barta, Z. - Hauber, M. E. - Honza, Marcel
High synchrony of egg laying in common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) and their great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) hosts.
[Synchronizace v parazitaci hnízd rákosníka velkého Acrocephalus arundinaceus kukačkou obecnou Cuculus canorus.]
Ethology, Ecology and Evolution. Roč. 18, č. 2 (2006), s. 159-167. ISSN 0394-9370. E-ISSN 1828-7131
R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA600930605
Grant - others:OTKA(HU) T29570; OTKA(HU) T48397
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60930519
Keywords : adaptation * brood parasitism * laying pattern * multiple parasitism * reproductive success
Subject RIV: EG - Zoology
Impact factor: 0.782, year: 2006
http://ejour-fup.unifi.it/index.php/eee/article/viewFile/1140/1085

Female common cuckoos Cuculus canorus lay eggs every other day and typically parasitise nests before the hosts complete their clutches. When cuckoos’ laying strategy is well-synchronised with hosts’ laying, the parasites’ reproductive success may increase. In contrast, when parasitism frequencies are high, cuckoo females might be less able to find suitable nests of the desired stage and without any prior cuckoo eggs. Contrary to this prediction, we found high synchrony of laying patterns between cuckoos and their locally primary hosts, the great reed warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus, under unusually heavy brood parasitism (ca. 64% parasitism frequency) in the Hungarian Great Plains. Although hosts' laying activities showed different temporal patterns in the two consecutive years studied, the cuckoos closely followed the hosts’ laying patterns in each year. This occurred despite the arrival of cuckoos to the study site 2-3 weeks earlier than the great reed warblers.

Strategie parasitace hnízda hostitelem hnízdním parasitem je založena na synchronizaci s hnízdní periodou hostitelů. V oblastech s vysokým výskytem hnízdního parasitismu se hnízdní parasit může setkat s nedostatkem hnízdních možností z důvodu synchronizace hnízdění. Na lokalitě v Maďarsku s vysokým výskytem parasitismu byla zjištěna vysoká synchronizace v hnízdění mezi hostitelem a hnízdním parasitem.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0136762