Reticence or vigilance at the nest: a cruel bind for the endangered Black-capped Vireo

Lauren E Walker,John M Marzluff

doi:10.5751/ace-00923-120101

Abstract

Walker, L. E., and J. M. Marzluff. 2017. Reticence or vigilance at the nest: a cruel bind for the endangered Black-capped Vireo. Avian Conservation and Ecology 12(1):1. https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-00923-120101

Highlights

Animal communication is critical for locating conspecifics, establishing territories, obtaining a mate, and coordinating social activities (Bradbury and Vehrencamp 2011)
For the endangered Black-capped Vireo, we found only limited, stage-specific evidence for both the predator-attraction and parasite-assessment hypotheses across landscapes that vary in parasitism risk
Black-capped Vireos face a cruel bind in navigating the risks of predation and brood parasitism, a bind that they solve, in part, through temporal plasticity in vocalization frequency near the nest

Summary

Introduction

Animal communication is critical for locating conspecifics, establishing territories, obtaining a mate, and coordinating social activities (Bradbury and Vehrencamp 2011). Vocalizations of a particular frequency or quality, such as scold calls, may attract neighboring birds for group defense or social learning (Cornell et al 2012). Avian brood parasites rely on pairs of other breeding birds to incubate their eggs and raise their young, often imposing reproductive and energetic costs on their hosts (Rothstein 1975, Payne 1977). Defense strategies could favor increased communication between pairs, risk of predation or parasitism might induce alternative selective pressures on vocalization near the nest. The need to remain attentive and coordinated without attracting undue attention puts nesting birds in a cruel bind (Trivers 1972). Natural selection presumably solves this bind through the influence of parental actions that benefit the development of their young while enabling detection and appropriate responses to the threats of parasites and predators

Methods

Results

Conclusion