2014/03/20 by Daniela Canestrari, Diana Bolopo, Ted C. J. Turlings +3 · 1 citation
Environmental Science · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Avian ecology and behavior #Plant and animal studies #Animal Behavior and Reproduction
paper · doi:10.1126/science.1249008
openalex publication_date 2014/03/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Avian brood parasites lay eggs in the nests of other birds, which raise the unrelated chicks and typically suffer partial or complete loss of their own brood. However, carrion crows Corvus corone corone can benefit from parasitism by the great spotted cuckoo Clamator glandarius. Parasitized nests have lower rates of predation-induced failure due to production of a repellent secretion by cuckoo chicks, but among nests that are successful, those with cuckoo chicks fledge fewer crows. The outcome of these counterbalancing effects fluctuates between parasitism and mutualism each season, depending on the intensity of predation pressure.