Repeated presentations of the Common Cuckoo increase nest defense by the Eurasian Reed Warbler but do not induce it to make recognition errors

0351044 - ÚBO 2011 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Čapek, Miroslav - Požgayová, Milica - Procházka, Petr - Honza, Marcel
Repeated presentations of the Common Cuckoo increase nest defense by the Eurasian Reed Warbler but do not induce it to make recognition errors.
Condor. Roč. 112, č. 4 (2010), s. 763-769. ISSN 0010-5422. E-ISSN 1938-5129
R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA600930605; GA AV ČR IAA600930903; GA MŠMT LC06073
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60930519
Keywords : Acrocephalus scirpaceus * Cuculus canorus * nest defense * recognition errors * repeated visits
Subject RIV: EG - Zoology
Impact factor: 1.290, year: 2010

We studied the nest-defense behavior of Eurasian Reed Warblers facing four successive exposures to a Common Cuckoo to investigate whether a previous experience of interacting with a brood parasite may play a role in shaping the host’s defenses in further encounters. Nesting warblers significantly increased their aggressive behavior from the first to the second presentation of a dummy Common Cuckoo and then sustained their response at the same intensity. The intensity with which the birds tested mobbed the dummy decreased both as the season progressed and with the time of the day. Multiple encounters with the dummy, however, did not increase the warblers’ propensity to make recognition errors, i.e., to reject their own eggs in the absence of a Common Cuckoo egg in the nest. We discuss possible explanations of the increased intensity of nest defense with respect to the positive-reinforcement hypothesis and known patterns of nest attendance in the Eurasian Reed Warbler.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0190880