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Influence of the intensity of begging on the rate of predation in the common sandpiper and common cuckoo
ČAPEK, Jan
In this research, I examined whether the louder calls of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), a nest parasite, would increase the rate of predation on the nest of the red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio), whose nestlings call at a lower volume. The experiment was conducted during both the nesting season of the red-backed shrike, primarily in June, and in the autumn of 2023. During the spring trials, nests were situated within bushes, whereas in the autumn trials, they were positioned on the ground. Each experiment involved three nests, each subjected to a distinct audio recording: one featuring the vocalizations of a young common cuckoo, another with those of nestlings of the red-backed shrike, and a third serving as a silent control. Predation rates were assessed across these nests to determine whether certain recordings elicited higher predation rates compared to others.
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Vocalization of the common cuckoo chicks: ontogenesis and influence of the host species and acoustic environment
Žabková, Klára ; Honza, Marcel (advisor) ; Linhart, Pavel (referee)
Brood parasitism is a breeding strategy which imposes significant selection pressure upon the host as well as the parasite. Consequently, specific adaptations were formed on both sides. One of the adaptations could be vocal behaviour of brood parasite juveniles. Several conducted studies suggested that juveniles of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) adapt the form of their begging calls according to the host species they parasitize on. However, the outcomes of these studies were ambiguous. Therefore one of my tasks was to verify those findings. Two reed warblers - the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) and the reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) - living in sympatry were selected as the hosts. The structure of begging calls of common cuckoo juveniles raised by these two host species did not differ in any of the measured parameters (syllable duration, minimum and maximum frequency, peak frequency, frequency bandwidth and calling rate). On the contrary the structure of begging calls of own host juveniles varied significantly among the individual species. Moreover, a considerable individual variability was detected in both groups of cuckoo juveniles. Recent studies have revealed that juveniles already perceive sound and acquire knowledge of their parents' voices in the process of...
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Vocalization of the common cuckoo chicks: ontogenesis and influence of the host species and acoustic environment
Žabková, Klára ; Honza, Marcel (advisor) ; Linhart, Pavel (referee)
Brood parasitism is a breeding strategy which imposes significant selection pressure upon the host as well as the parasite. Consequently, specific adaptations were formed on both sides. One of the adaptations could be vocal behaviour of brood parasite juveniles. Several conducted studies suggested that juveniles of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) adapt the form of their begging calls according to the host species they parasitize on. However, the outcomes of these studies were ambiguous. Therefore one of my tasks was to verify those findings. Two reed warblers - the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) and the reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) - living in sympatry were selected as the hosts. The structure of begging calls of common cuckoo juveniles raised by these two host species did not differ in any of the measured parameters (syllable duration, minimum and maximum frequency, peak frequency, frequency bandwidth and calling rate). On the contrary the structure of begging calls of own host juveniles varied significantly among the individual species. Moreover, a considerable individual variability was detected in both groups of cuckoo juveniles. Recent studies have revealed that juveniles already perceive sound and acquire knowledge of their parents' voices in the process of...
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The role of UV reflection in parasite egg rejection in reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)
Šulc, Michal ; Procházka, Petr (advisor) ; Fuchs, Roman (referee)
One of the best ways how hosts may defend their clutch against brood parasitism is recognition and rejection of parasitic eggs. It has been documented that ability to percept UV light in birds affects their behaviour. By using a spectrophotometer we found that Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) eggs and Common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) eggs differ mainly in brightness but also in UV hue. We investigated the influence of birds' UV vision on recognition and rejection of parasitic eggs. Therefore we performed three experiments to reveal the role of eggshell UV reflectance on egg rejection in this host. In the first experiment, we parasitized clutches with artificial white eggs differing only in UV reflectance (UV- and UV+). In the other two, we experimentally reduced UV reflectance from conspecific and host own eggs. We used a UV light blocker, which did not influence the reflectance shape in the other parts of spectra. As a control we used a group of conspecific and own eggs coated in Vaseline, which did not affect eggshell reflectance. In each experiment, we monitored host response to parasitic eggs. Because the Reed Warbler's eggs reflect UV radiation themselves, we expected that white UV- eggs would be rejected as well as the eggs coated in UV blocker at a higher rate than white UV+ eggs and...
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The role of nest in reproduction of the Great Reed Warbler
Jelínek, Václav ; Procházka, Petr (advisor) ; Krist, Miloš (referee) ; Trnka, Alfréd (referee)
7 Abstract Bird nests protect eggs and nestlings, allowing the parents to leave their offspring and subsequently return to them. Their thermoregulatory properties reduce energetic costs of incubation and brooding of nestlings. For all these reasons, nests are key structures for the reproduction of a majority of avian species and as such they should be subject to natural selection. Several hypotheses describing selection pressures which affect the size of nests or some of their parts have been suggested. In my PhD thesis, I investigated some of them in the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) - an open nesting passerine species with very variable nest size. For this purpose, I used a large dataset of several hundred measured great reed warbler nests, nest enlargement experiments and an experiment with artificial nests. In accordance with previous studies, we did not find that nest size affects the probability of common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) brood parasitism, while it was influenced by other factors, such as timing of breeding, reed density around the nest and nest visibility from the nearest potential cuckoo perch site. More interestingly, we found that cuckoos adjust their nest-searching strategy in relation to availability of host nests. When host nests were scarce, cuckoos parasitized all of...
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