Caught on camera: circumstantial evidence for fatal mobbing of an avian brood parasite by a host

Title:

Caught on camera: circumstantial evidence for fatal mobbing of an avian brood parasite by a host

Creator:

Šulc, Michal, Štětková, Gabriela, Procházka, Petr, Požgayová, Milica, Sosnovcová, Kateřina, Studecký, Jan, and Honza, Marcel

Identifier:

https://cdk.lib.cas.cz/client/handle/uuid:3f051415-5997-490a-a4a8-a0b09a89c859
uuid:3f051415-5997-490a-a4a8-a0b09a89c859
doi:10.25225/jvb.20027

Subject:

ornithology, behavioural ecology, brood parasitism, nest defence, killing, and video evidence

Type:

model:article and TEXT

Format:

počítač and online zdroj

Description:

Hosts have evolved a multiplicity of defensive responses against avian brood parasites. One of them is mobbing behaviour which often includes direct contact attacks. These aggressive strikes may not only distract the parasites but may also be fatal to them, as documented by cases of dead brood parasite females found near host nests. Here, we present the first video-recording of a great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) host whose vigorous nest defence appears to directly lead to the death of a female common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). We suggest that the chance of parasite death probably rises with the presence of unfavourable factors, such as water below the nest. Our observation supports previous suggestions that hosts may pose a lethal danger to their parasites.

Language:

English

Rights:

http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
policy:public

Coverage:

1-6

Source:

Journal of Vertebrate Biology | 2020 Volume:69 | Number:1

Harvested from:

CDK

Metadata only:

false