ArticleBiology letters2013
A brood parasite selects for its own egg traits.
Article in Biology letters, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Sparrowhawk imitation or convergent alarm signal? A new hypothesis for bubbling call of cuckoos with empirical testing.Current zoology · 2025Article
- Decision rules for egg-color-based rejection by two cavity-nesting hosts of the brown-headed cowbird.The Journal of experimental biology · 2023Article
- Decision-making at the time of parasitism: cowbirds prefer to peck eggs with weaker shells.Animal cognition · 2022Article
- Embryo movement is more frequent in avian brood parasites than birds with parental reproductive strategies.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Common cuckoo females remove more conspicuous eggs during parasitism.Royal Society open science · 2021Article
- No evidence of host-specific egg mimicry in Asian koels.PloS one · 2021Article
- Convergent evolution of reduced eggshell conductance in avian brood parasites.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2019Article
- Keeping eggs warm: thermal and developmental advantages for parasitic cuckoos of laying unusually thick-shelled eggs.Die Naturwissenschaften · 2018Article
- Dynamic egg color mimicry.Ecology and evolution · 2016Article
- The sight of an adult brood parasite near the nest is an insufficient cue for a honeyguide host to reject foreign eggs.The Ibis · 2015Article
- Cryptic cuckoo eggs hide from competing cuckoos.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2014Article
- Eavesdropping cuckoos: further insights on great spotted cuckoo preference by magpie nests and egg colour.Oecologia · 2014Article
- A brood parasite selects for its own egg traits.Biology letters · 2013Article
- Low incidence of cannibalism among brood parasitic cuckoo catfish embryos.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
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Authors and funding
1 author.
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Abstract
Many brood parasitic birds lay eggs that mimic their hosts' eggs in appearance. This typically arises from selection from discriminating hosts that reject eggs which differ from their own. However, selection on parasitic eggs may also arise from parasites themselves, because it should pay a laying parasitic female to detect and destroy another parasitic egg previously laid in the same host nest by a different female. In this study, I experimentally test the source of selection on greater honeyguide (Indicator indicator) egg size and shape, which is correlated with that of its several host species, all of which breed in dark holes. Its commonest host species did not discriminate against experimental eggs that differed from their own in size and shape, but laying female honeyguides preferentially punctured experimental eggs more than host or control eggs. This should improve offspring survival given that multiple parasitism by this species is common, and that honeyguide chicks kill all other nest occupants. Hence, selection on egg size in greater honeyguides parasitizing bee-eaters appears to be imposed not by host defences but by interference competition among parasites themselves.
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