Egg Morphology Is An Unreliable Indicator of Intraspecific Nest Parasitism in Wood Ducks

Abstract

Abstract. We examined the utility of the maximum Euclidean distance (MED) method, which was developed for the Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) and is based on egg morphology, to detect parasitism in the Wood Duck (Aix sponsa). We used five polymorphic microsatellite loci to identify parasitized clutches and contributions by multiple females. Three-egg clutches randomly assembled from eggs of one female were less variable than those of three females, indicating that variation within females was less than variation among females. Although variation in egg morphology in parasitized clutches was greater than among eggs laid by one female, extensive overlap in MED values precluded the identification of a clear boundary to distinguish between parasitized and unparasitized clutches. The best MED criterion misclassified 28% of nests. Our results suggest that egg morphology should not be used to detect parasitism in Wood Ducks.