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Seasonal variation in the risk of cuckoo parasitism does not influence nest defense and egg rejection in a population of Daurian redstarts (Phoenicurus auroreus)
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Seasonal variation in the risk of cuckoo parasitism does not influence nest defense and egg rejection in a population of Daurian redstarts (Phoenicurus auroreus)
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Seasonal variation in the risk of cuckoo parasitism does not influence nest defense and egg rejection in a population of Daurian redstarts (Phoenicurus auroreus)
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Journal Article
Seasonal variation in the risk of cuckoo parasitism does not influence nest defense and egg rejection in a population of Daurian redstarts (Phoenicurus auroreus)
2025
Overview
Behavioral plasticity is an adaptive or non-adaptive adjustment made by individual animals in response to environmental changes that can affect their reproductive success. In obligate brood parasitism systems, the high reproductive costs imposed on hosts can result in the evolution of strategies for protection against parasites or their offspring (eggs or nestlings). However, there has been some controversy over whether hosts can adjust the intensity of anti-parasitic behaviors according to the spatiotemporal dynamics of parasitism risk. In this study, simulated parasitism with the common cuckoo (
Cuculus canorus
) and its host Daurian redstart (
Phoenicurus auroreus
) was performed to evaluate host nest defense and egg rejection behaviors in response to seasonal changes in parasitism risk. Daurian redstarts exhibited low nest defense intensities and high egg recognition levels; however, there were no significant differences in responses to cuckoo dummies or in rejection rates for model eggs before and after cuckoo arrival. This suggests that the anti-parasitism behavior (during both frontline defense and the egg stage) of Daurian redstarts in this study system was unaffected by intra-seasonal variation in cuckoo parasitism risk. Our findings are consistent with the strategy blocking hypothesis but do not support the parasitism risk-driven adaptive plasticity hypothesis for intra-seasonal anti-parasitism behaviors.
Significance Statement
Whether hosts can adjust the intensity of anti-parasitic behaviors according to the spatiotemporal dynamics of parasitism risk remains unsolved. We showed that the Daurian redstart (
Phoenicurus auroreus
), a common host of the common cuckoo (
Cuculus canorus
), exhibited low nest defense intensities and high egg recognition levels, with no significant differences in egg rejection, or in responses to cuckoo dummies before and after cuckoo arrival, suggesting that the anti-parasitism behavior of Daurian redstarts in this study system was unaffected by intra-seasonal variation in cuckoo parasitism risk.
