Plaintive cuckoos do not select tailorbird hosts that match the phenotypes of their own eggs

Abstract

Lay Summary We studied the matching in egg appearance between plaintive cuckoos and their common tailorbird hosts, both of which have evolved blue and white eggs with brownish spots. Tailorbirds ejected all experimental eggs that differed from their own eggs but accepted almost all eggs belonging to their corresponding morphs. We provide evidence that plaintive cuckoos lay eggs randomly with respect to host egg appearance and that they do not selectively choose host nests to maximize egg matching and acceptance.