Cuckoos use host egg number to choose host nests for parasitism
Cuckoos use host egg number to choose host nests for parasitism
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杜鹃利用寄主卵数来选择寄生寄主巢穴
DOI：
10.1098/rspb.2020.0343
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发表时间：
2020-06-10
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
Moller, Anders Pape
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Wang, Longwu;Yang, Canchao;Moller, Anders Pape
为了最大限度地提高后代的成功率，普通杜鹃（Cuculus canorus）雌性应该在孵化开始前将卵产到宿主巢中。这确保了寄生虫小鸡在所有宿主小鸡之前孵化，并可以驱逐其寄养兄弟姐妹以垄断宿主父母的照顾。许多研究表明，大多数杜鹃卵确实是在宿主孵化开始之前产下的。但是雌性杜鹃在正确的时间选择正确的巢穴所使用的线索仍然不清楚。在这里，我们结合联合收割机的现场观察与现场实验，以测试是否使用的数量的鸡蛋在巢中的东方苇莺（Acrocephalus orientalis）主机，以指导他们的选择。经过8年的野外观察和5年的实验，杜鹃雌鸟将大部分卵放置在少于3个宿主卵的巢中，即在产卵序列的早期。对于天然巢穴，杜鹃可能会使用从宿主父母的活动和行为中收集的信息来做出选择。在我们的实验巢包含不同数量的模型蛋，绝大多数的寄生事件发生在巢包含一个鸡蛋。据我们所知，这是第一次实地实验表明，杜鹃选择宿主巢寄生的基础上，他们包含的主机蛋的数量。看来，杜鹃女性使用的鸡蛋数量，以估计适当的主机巢阶段，及时寄生。
To maximize their offspring success common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) females should lay their eggs into host nests before incubation has begun. This ensures that the parasite chick hatches before all host chicks and can evict its foster siblings to monopolize host parental care. Many studies have demonstrated that most cuckoo eggs are indeed laid before the onset of host incubation. But cues used by female cuckoos to choose the right nest at the right time remain unclear. Here, we combine field observations with a field experiment to test whether female cuckoos use the number of eggs in the nests of their Oriental reed warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis) hosts to direct their choice. Over 8 years of field observations and 5 years of experiments, cuckoo females placed the majority of their eggs in nests with fewer than three host eggs, i.e. early in the laying sequence. For natural nests, the cuckoos may use information gleaned from the activity and behaviour of the host parents to make their choice. In our sets of experimental nests containing different numbers of model eggs, the vast majority of parasitism events occurred in nests containing a single egg. To our knowledge, this is the first field experiment showing that cuckoos choose host nests for parasitism based on the number of host eggs they contain. It appears that cuckoo females use the egg number to estimate the appropriate host nest stage for timely parasitism.