Nest defence in a cuckoo host: great reed warblers risk themselves equally for their own and parasitic chicks

0342465 - ÚBO 2011 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Honza, Marcel - Procházka, Petr - Šicha, Václav - Požgayová, Milica
Nest defence in a cuckoo host: great reed warblers risk themselves equally for their own and parasitic chicks.
Behaviour. Roč. 147, 5-6 (2010), s. 741-756. ISSN 0005-7959. E-ISSN 1568-539X
R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA600930903; GA MŠMT LC06073
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60930519
Keywords : brood parasitism * chick discrimination * cuckoo * mobbing * nest defence * nestlingnestling recognition * parental investment
Subject RIV: EG - Zoology
Impact factor: 1.480, year: 2010

We investigated nest defence in great reed warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) against three types of nest intruders while controlling for the number of chicks and the length of the nestling period. The most parsimonious linear mixed-effects model showed that the type of intruder and nest identity significantly explained variation in host aggression. Our results demonstrated that the hosts discriminated two predators from an innocuous species and that some nest owners consistently defended their nests more intensely than others. However, the birds did not differ in their responses in relation to the nest contents, indicating that neither the nestling species, nor the length of previous parental investment influenced the intensity of nest defence. Our findings are, therefore, in accordance with the general scarcity of chick discrimination by cuckoo hosts.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0185196