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Home ยป Yellow wing-patch of a nestling Horsfield's hawk cuckoo Cuculus fugax induces miscognition by hosts: mimicking a gape?
Yellow wing-patch of a nestling Horsfield's hawk cuckoo Cuculus fugax induces miscognition by hosts: mimicking a gape?
| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 2005 |
| Authors: | Tanaka, KD, Morimoto, G, UEDA, KEISUKE |
| Journal: | Journal of Avian Biology |
| Volume: | 36 |
| Issue: | 5 |
| Date Published: | 2005 |
| ISBN Number: | 1600-048X |
| Keywords: | Cuculidae, Cuculus, Cuculus canorus, Cuculus fugax, Hierococcyx, Hierococcyx fugax |
| Abstract: | A chick of the Horsfield's hawk cuckoo Cuculus fugax has a vivid yellow skin patch on each wing-bend, which is very similar in colour to its own gape. Almost every time a host parent delivers food, the chick explicitly displays the wing-patch by raising and shaking the wing. We observed that host parents tried to place food onto the wing-patch of the nestling instead of into its mouth. The wing-patch would be perceived as a gape by host parents, possibly resulting in an overestimation of brood size. Signals induced by the wing-patch may vary with the luminosity of environments. |
| URL: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.2005.0908-8857.03439.x |
| Short Title: | Journal of Avian Biology |
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical):
Ed Baker,
Katherine Bouton
Alice Heaton
Dimitris Koureas,
Laurence Livermore,
Dave Roberts,
Simon Rycroft,
Ben Scott,
Vince Smith