Perch Proximity Correlates with Higher Rates of Cowbird Parasitism of Ground Nesting Song Sparrows
By M. Hauber, Stefani A. Russo. 2000
89 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Abstract The reproductive success of avian brood parasites depends, to a great extent, on their ability to locate host nests that are at the appropriate stages of the host laying cycle. Consequently, brood parasites are expected to possess elaborate mechanisms and search modes to locate potential host nests. Through observing a population of Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) parasitized by the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) we examined two specific factors that may influence cowbird parasitism of a ground nesting host. Proximity to potential perches was a significant predictor of cowbird parasitism, but overhead nest visibility, either classified dichotomously as visible or not, or measured as the absolute area of a nest visible to an observer, was not correlated with the likelihood of parasitism. Comparisons with previous studies suggest that female cowbirds use similar nest searching mechanisms in open habitats, irrespective of the height of host nests.
Subfields: Ecology, Global and Planetary Change
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/61b6d6e31e373c2a6da8214ccf365a58f6fc5546
How researchers see this paper
The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.
In Ecology
In Global and Planetary Change
Citations in the corpus
- Self-referent phenotype matching in a brood parasite: the armpit effect in brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) (2000, methodology): “The environs and field techniques were described by Hauber and Russo (2000) .”
- Behaviour of female common cuckoos, Cuculus canorus, in the vicinity of host nests before and during egg laying: a radiotelemetry study (2002, background): “This ‘perch-proximity hypothesis’ has been covincingly supported for both cuckoo hosts (Alvarez 1993; Øien et al. 1996; Moskát & Honza 2000) and brown-headed cowbird hosts (Clotfelter 1998; Larison et al. 1998; Hauber & Russo 2000).”