| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 1991 |
| Authors: | M. Brooke, deL, Davies, NB |
| Journal: | Ethology |
| Volume: | 89 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Date Published: | 1991 |
| ISBN Number: | 1439-0310 |
| Keywords: | Cuculidae, Cuculus, Cuculus canorus |
| Abstract: | Abstract The cuckoo Cuculus canorus is divided into various gentes, each laying a distinctive egg and favouring a different species as host. It has long been assumed that the gentes remain distinct because female cuckoos lay the same egg-type as their mother and prefer the same host, developing this preference by imprinting on their foster parents. We tested whether imprinting occurred by laboratory experiments with 7 cuckoos originating from reed warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus nests. Two were transferred soon after hatching to robin Erithacus rubecula nests and were raised by robins, while the other five were raised by reed warblers. When about 12 d old, the nestling cuckoos and their foster parents were transferred from the wild to aviaries, where the fosterers continued to raise the cuckoos to independence. The fosterers were then released and the cuckoos retained and presented, at one and two years of age, with a behavioural choice between robins and reed warblers. None of the cuckoos (five females and two males) displayed a consistent preference for the host that reared them even, in the case of females, after oestradiol implantation. We discuss the inadequacies of our experiment and present data on cuckoo egg types to test whether natal philopatry might be sufficient to maintain the gentes. We suggest that mitochondrial DNA studies, now underway, will help to resolve the issue. |
| URL: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.1991.tb00301.x |
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