Egg Retrieval as a Cognitive Indicator in Cuckoo Hosts.

ABSTRACT: Egg retrieval behavior in hosts within avian brood parasitism systems was found to be regulated by the motivation to reject parasitic eggs. However, due to the limitations in the research systems, there is a lack of effective validation regarding the adaptation mechanisms of cuckoo hosts to the conflict between retrieving their own eggs outside the nest and rejecting parasitic eggs. This study uses Daurian redstarts (Phoenicurus auroreus), a secondary cavity-nesting host parasitized by common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus), to verify the adaptive decision-making of the host between egg retrieval and egg rejection by simulating the occurrence of eggs outside the nest. The results showed that Daurian redstarts ignored 60.6% of highly mimetic conspecific eggs, with a retrieval rate o

SUBMITTER: Zhong G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11783167 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature