Abstract
Following nest destruction, the laying of physiologically committed eggs (eggs that are ovulated, yolked, and making their way through the oviduct) in the nests of other birds is considered a viable pathway for the evolution of obligate interspecific brood parasitism. While intraspecific brood parasitism in response to nest predation has been experimentally demonstrated, this pathway has yet to be evaluated in an interspecific context. We studied patterns of egg laying following experimental nest destruction in captive zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, a frequent intraspecific brood parasite. We found that zebra finches laid physiologically committed eggs indiscriminately between nests containing conspecific eggs and nests containing heterospecific eggs (of Bengalese finches, Lonchura striata vars. domestica), despite the con- and heterospecific eggs differing in both size and coloration. This is the first experimental evidence that nest destruction may provide a pathway for the evolution of interspecific brood parasitism in birds.
Highlights
The evolutionary pathways from obligate parental care to obligate interspecific brood parasitism in birds are controversial and enigmatic
Hamilton and Orians (1965) suggested that the laying of physiologically committed eggs in the nests of other birds following nest predation may be a viable pathway to the evolution of intraspecific and obligate interspecific brood parasitism (“Hamilton–Orians” hypothesis)
Zebra finches showed no preference for laying a physiologically committed egg in a nest containing zebra finch eggs versus a nest containing Bengalese finch eggs. These results provide direct support for the Hamilton–Orians hypothesis in that nest destruction can cause facultative brood parasitism of both intraspecific (Feare 1991; McRae 1998; Shaw and Hauber 2009, 2012) and interspecific nests
Summary
The evolutionary pathways from obligate parental care to obligate interspecific brood parasitism in birds are controversial and enigmatic. Hamilton and Orians (1965) suggested that the laying of physiologically committed eggs in the nests of other birds following nest predation may be a viable pathway to the evolution of intraspecific and obligate interspecific brood parasitism (“Hamilton–Orians” hypothesis) This evolutionary hypothesis has strong support from theoretical modeling studies (Cichon 1996; Robert and Sorci 2001) and has been demonstrated experimentally in an intraspecific parasitism context: captive zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) preferentially parasitized the active nests of conspecifics, as opposed to empty nests, following the removal of their own nest during the egg laying period (Shaw and Hauber 2009, 2012).
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