Polygynous great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus suffer more cuckoo Cuculus canorus parasitism than monogamous pairs

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that hosts within a population may not be parasitized by common cuckoos Cuculus canorus with equal probability. Such non-randomness has been documented, for example, for host nest sites and host quality. In this study we demonstrate association between successful cuckoo parasitism and host social mating system. We found that nests of socially polygynous great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus were more often successfully parasitized than the nests of their monogamous counterparts. We hypothesize that lack of parental assistance provided by polygynous males to their mates during egg laying period and higher nest activity in their territories could contribute to this discrepancy. These data imply that social mating system should be taken into account in future studies of brood parasitism.