Abstract
Multiple parasitism in obligate avian brood parasites occurs when several brood parasitic females lay their eggs in the nest of the same host. While multiple parasitism is common in the highly social, nonevicting cowbird species (Molothrus sp.), in which multiple parasitic nestlings can be raised simultaneously by the same hosts, it is less common in the case of cuckoo species (Cuculus sp.). The first cuckoo nestling to hatch from the egg evicts all nestmates; therefore, it is costly for cuckoo females to lay eggs in already parasitized nests. However, this can occur in sites with very high parasitism rates, and it can even increase the breeding success of the brood parasites, as the presence of multiple parasitic eggs in the nest of the host decreases rejection rates. Here, we present a case of a quintuple brood parasitism of a great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) nest, an extreme form of multiple brood parasitism.
Highlights
Obligatory brood parasitism represents a rare avian breeding strategy, characteristic to only 1% of the bird species existing today (Davies, 2015)
While the parasitism of the same host nest by several female brood parasites is well known in cowbirds, multiple parasitism is less common in the common cuckoo
We present an extreme case of multiple parasitism by the common cuckoo, where five parasitic eggs were laid most probably by five different common cuckoo females in the nest of a great reed warbler
Summary
Obligatory brood parasitism represents a rare avian breeding strategy, characteristic to only 1% of the bird species existing today (Davies, 2015). Our study site on the Great Hungarian Plain stands out as a striking exception regarding the parasitism rate: Here, the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) hosts breed in narrow reed beds along irrigation channels and face a parasitism rate of 50%–60% and a multiple parasitism rate of 10%–25% (Moskát & Honza, 2000; Zölei et al, 2015).
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