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 …

Brood (social) parasites and their hosts exhibit a wide range of adaptations and counter-
adaptations as part of their ongoing coevolutionary arms races. Obligate avian brood …

The optimal acceptance threshold hypothesis provides a general predictive framework for
testing behavioural responses to discrimination challenges. Decision-makers should …

Obligate avian brood parasites lay their eggs in the nest of other species and impose
reproductive costs upon their hosts. In response, many hosts have evolved a variety of …

Hosts of brood parasites may vary geographically in their ability to resist parasitism. In
contrast, geographic variation in defenses, such as egg rejection, is not expected to be …

Background Co-evolutionary arms-races result in spatio-temporally dynamic relationships
between interacting species, eg, brood parasites and their avian hosts. However, majority of …

Egg rejection is the best studied behavioral adaptation by hosts to avian brood parasitism.
Investigations of the mechanism (s) by which a host accomplishes the task of perceiving and …

One of the most effective defenses against avian brood parasitism is the rejection of the
foreign egg from the host's nest. Until recently, most studies have tested whether hosts …

Experimentation is at the heart of classical and modern behavioral ecology research. The
manipulation of natural cues allows us to establish causation between aspects of the …

Background Why have birds evolved the ability to reject eggs? Typically, foreign egg
discrimination is interpreted as evidence that interspecific brood parasitism (IP) has selected …