Coots use hatch order to learn to recognize and reject conspecific brood parasitic chicks

Daizaburo Shizuka () and Bruce E. Lyon
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Daizaburo Shizuka: University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
Bruce E. Lyon: University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA

Nature, 2010, vol. 463, issue 7278, 223-226

Abstract: Best of the nest Many birds that are targeted by brood parasites have learnt to reject the parasites' eggs, but very few reject parasite chicks if they manage to hatch, even though they can be absurdly different in size from their own chicks. A series of chick cross-fostering experiments in one of the rare cases where chick rejection does occur, parasitism within a species (American coots), shows that the parents use the first of their brood to hatch as a template against which to judge potential intruders hatching later. This learning rule may explain the puzzling absence of chick recognition as a host defence against avian brood parasites: it may be counterproductive for the hosts of most interspecific parasites as the intruder usually hatches early and would stand a good chance of becoming the brood template.

Date: 2010
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08655

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