The use of artificial stimuli in behavioral experimentation is pervasive and well precedented.
A perspective by Hauber et al.(2014) Ethology describes advantages of this approach and …

Different populations of a host species subject to variable patterns of selection due to cuckoo
parasitism provide an optimal situation for studying natural selection and coevolution in …

Comparative studies of egg recognition and rejection between various sympatric hosts
provide insight into the coevolutionary history of the hosts and parasites, as well as the …

Highlights•Santa Catalina Island orange-crowned warblers varied in nest construction
behaviour.•Off-ground nests were heavier and contained more twigs than ground …

Egg retrieval in birds may help ensure the survival of eggs and improve reproductive
success. However, with the risk of brood parasitism, for ground-nesting or cavity-nesting bird …

Background Nest parasitism by cuckoos (Cuculus spp.) results in enormous reproductive
failure and forces hosts to evolve antiparasitic strategies, ie, recognition of own eggs and …

Before complex nests evolved, birds laid eggs on the ground, and egg retrieval evolved as
an adaptation against accidental displacement of eggs outside the nest. Therefore, egg …

Hole-nesting tits Parus spp. have been classified as “unsuitable” hosts for cuckoo parasitism
because cuckoos cannot enter a cavity if the entrance is too small. However, Chinese tits …

We have reviewed the most important results relating to particular egg characteristics
responsible for recognition and subsequent rejection by hosts of brood parasites. Hosts …

The coevolutionary process among avian brood parasites and their hosts involves stepwise
changes induced by the antagonistic selection pressures of one on the other. As long‐term …