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      Flexible cuckoo chick-rejection rules in the superb fairy-wren

      , , ,
      Behavioral Ecology
      Oxford University Press (OUP)

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          The Evolution of Conspecific Acceptance Thresholds

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            Recognition Errors and Probability of Parasitism Determine Whether Reed Warblers Should Accept or Reject Mimetic Cuckoo Eggs

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              Reduced egg investment can conceal helper effects in cooperatively breeding birds.

              Cooperative breeding systems are characterized by nonbreeding helpers that assist breeders in offspring care. However, the benefits to offspring of being fed by parents and helpers in cooperatively breeding birds can be difficult to detect. We offer experimental evidence that helper effects can be obscured by an undocumented maternal tactic. In superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus), mothers breeding in the presence of helpers lay smaller eggs of lower nutritional content that produce lighter chicks, as compared with those laying eggs in the absence of helpers. Helpers compensate fully for such reductions in investment and allow mothers to benefit through increased survival to the next breeding season. We suggest that failure to consider maternal egg-investment strategies can lead to underestimation of the force of selection acting on helping in avian cooperative breeders.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Behavioral Ecology
                Oxford University Press (OUP)
                1465-7279
                1045-2249
                September 01 2009
                September 01 2009
                : 20
                : 5
                : 978-984
                Article
                10.1093/beheco/arp086
                b55a8916-ba87-4bdf-b3c8-eb019470e944
                © 2009
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