The Ecology of Brood Parasitism in Birds

Birds as brood parasites lay their eggs in the nests of other kinds of birds; these "hosts" incubate and rear the young. In the Old World, cuckoos have long been known as brood parasites. The early Vedic writers of India as well as Aristotle mentioned as common knowledge the fact that cuckoos are reared by other species (42). About 1 % of all bird species are brood parasites, including the honey guides (Indicatoridae), nearly half of the 1 30 species of cuckoos (Cuculidae), two genera of finches (Vidua and Anomalospiza, Ploceidae), five cowbirds (Icteridae), and a duck (Heteronetta atricapilla, Anatidae) (37-42, 9 1-93, 1 14, 1 32, 1 36, 199). No other vertebrate groups with parental care so consistently parasitize other species. [A few freshwater fish do occasionally ( 14).] Counterparts of the cuckoos are known among insects, of which several groups are specialized for interactions with social insects, ranging from facultative commensalism to an inquilinism close to the cuckoo nexus. Some adult insects as well as immature depend completely on their hosts (4, 202). Most parasitic birds are altricial; their nestlings depend on the host for food. The parasitic duck, however, obtains only protection and warmth from the host and feeds and cares for itself shortly after hatching ( 199).

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