Dissertation Research: Costs and Benefits of Intraspecific Brood Parasitism

为后代提供父母照顾是通常的模式 在鸟类中培育。 然而，在许多物种中， 雌性会在其他同类的巢中产卵 种，然后养育后代。 人们日益 证据表明，这种种内育雏寄生是一个 鸟类中的普遍现象。 然而，自适应 这种行为的意义尚不清楚。 几乎所有 种内育雏寄生的70余种 记录，寄生女性的身份，或者他们 在其他雌性的巢中产卵的收益，是未知的。 广泛发生的种内育雏寄生 提出了一些关于成本和收益的基本问题， 特别是对后代提供父母照顾， 生活史策略的优化。 理解其生态和进化意义 在鸟类中的种内育雏寄生， 将研究不列颠哥伦比亚省中部的美国黑鸭。 育雏寄生在这个种群中很常见， 1987年，四分之一的巢穴被寄生。 迄今为止的研究 已经揭示了大多数寄生的雌性鸟类都是领土鸟类 有自己的巢穴 因此，寄生的雌性可以被困在 在它们自己的巢里，单独标记， 历史可以跨年追踪。 的成本和收益 对这些寄生的雌性进行育雏寄生， 行为、人口统计学和生态学因素 行为将被检查。 像这样的详细研究 如果种内寄生的广泛模式是必要的， 被理解

Providing parental care to offspring is the usual mode ofnurturing in birds. However, in a variety of species, some females lay eggs in the nests of other individuals of their own species, which then rear the offspring. There is increasing evidence that this intraspecific brood parasitism is a widespread phenomenon in birds. However, the adaptive significance of this behavior remains unclear. For almost all of the seventy odd species where intraspecific brood parasitism been documented, the identity of the parasitic females, or what they gain by laying eggs in the nests of other females, is unknown. The widespread occurrence of intraspecific brood parasitism raises some fundamental questions about the costs and benefits of providing parental care to offspring in particular, and about the optimization of life history strategies in general. Tounderstand the ecological and evolutionary significance ofintraspecific brood parasitism in birds, a population of American coots in central British Columbia will be studied. Brood parasitism is common in this population and nearly a quarter of all nests were parasitized in 1987. Research to date has revealed that most parasitic females are territorial birds with nests of their own. Thus, parasitic females can be trapped at their own nests, individually marked, and their laying histories can be followed across years. The costs and benefits of brood parasitism to these parasitic females, and the behavioral, demographic and ecological factors associated with the behavior will be examined. Detailed studies like this are necessary if the broad patterns of intraspecific parasitism are to be understood.