Are tits really unsuitable hosts for the Common Cuckoo?

0427436 - ÚBO 2015 RIV FI eng J - Journal Article
Grim, T. - Samaš, P. - Procházka, Petr - Rutila, J.
Are tits really unsuitable hosts for the Common Cuckoo?
Ornis Fennica. Roč. 91, č. 3 (2014), s. 166-177. ISSN 0030-5685. E-ISSN 0030-5685
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP506/12/2404
Institutional support: RVO:68081766
Keywords : Cuculus canorus chicks * hole nesting birds * reed warbler hosts * parasitic birds * brood parasite * parental care * egg eviction * great * virulence * discrimination
Subject RIV: EG - Zoology
Impact factor: 0.612, year: 2014
http://www.ornisfennica.org/pdf/early/4Grim.pdf

Avian brood parasites exploit hosts that have accessible nests and a soft insect diet. Common Cuckoo (Cucuclus canorus) hosts were traditionally classified as suitable if both parameters were fulfilled or unsuitable if one, or both, were not. In line with this view, holenesting tits (Paridae) have become a text-book example of unsuitable Cuckoo hosts. Our extensive literature search for Cuckoo eggs hatched and chicks raised by hosts revealed 16 Cuckoo nestlings in Great Tit (Parus major) nests, 2 nestlings and 2 fledglings in Blue Tits (Cyanistes caerulens), and 1 nestling in a Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus) nest. Our own data from natural observations and cross-fostering experiments concur with literature data that Great Tits are able to rear Cuckoo chicks to fledging. The natural observations involve the first known cases where a bird species became parasitized as a byproduct of nest usurpation (take-over). Surprisingly, Cuckoo chicks raised by Great Tits grew better than Cuckoo chicks raised by common hosts, even alongside host own chicks. The frequency of Cuckoo parasitism in tits may be underestimated by studying tits in artificial nest-boxes with small entrances that prevent Cuckoos from laying and/or fledging. Results support a view that host suitability is not a categorical parameter (host suitable or unsuitable) but a continuous phenomenon. Understanding the diversity of parameters that determine host selection by Cuckoos is limited, because studies on Cuckoo chick diet, growth, and survival in most hosts are rare. Therefore any data are valuable and provide indispensable material for future meta-analyses.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0232962