(Download) "Response of Birds in Tropical Deciduous Forest to Brown-Headed Cowbirds (Molothrus Ater) (Report)" by Victor H. Rivera, Jorge H. Vega Medina-Montano, Irais Campos-Cerda, Felipe Mendoza-Rodriguez * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Response of Birds in Tropical Deciduous Forest to Brown-Headed Cowbirds (Molothrus Ater) (Report)
- Author : Victor H. Rivera, Jorge H. Vega Medina-Montano, Irais Campos-Cerda, Felipe Mendoza-Rodriguez
- Release Date : January 01, 2010
- Genre: Life Sciences,Books,Science & Nature,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 78 KB
Description
Vega Rivera et al. (2004) were the first to report parasitism of nests by the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) in the tropical deciduous forest of western Mexico. They reasoned that lack of information on parasitism by cowbirds on tropical species could be the result of less attention being paid to this phenomenon rather than a lower rate of parasitism. They reported that nests of three black-capped gnatcatchers (Polioptila nigriceps) were parasitized. Other nests encountered that were not parasitized included: yellow-green vireo (Vireo flavoviridis), 15; blue bunting ( Cyanocompsa parellina), 10; and red-breasted chat (Granatellus venustus), 25. In addition to looking for eggs of cowbirds, we indirectly assessed exposure to brood parasitism by experimentally testing the reaction of parent birds that were exposed to a taxidermy mount of a brown-headed cowbird, as suggested by Mark and Stutchbury (1994), Ward and Smith (2000), and Strausberger (2001). Species exposed to brood parasitism by cowbirds have developed behaviors to reduce costs associated with parasitism (Strausberger, 2001). Many hosts respond aggressively to a cowbird near their nest by trying to chase or distract it away (Briskie et al., 1992; Mark and Stutchbury, 1994). Based on this behavior, we exposed nesting birds to a taxidermy mount of a cowbird to determine which, if any, members of the avian community of a tropical deciduous forest recognized cowbirds near their nests as a threat.