Two Subspecies of Warbling Vireo Differ in Th!:.!R Rfponses to Cowbird Egc
TWO SUBSPECIES OF WARBLING VIREO DIFFER IN TH!:.!R RFPONSES TO COWBIRD EGC SPENCER G. SEALY, Departmentof Zoology,University of Manitoba,Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2, Canada ALISON J. BANKS, Montana CooperativeWildlife Research Unit, Universityof Montana, Missoula,Montana 59812 JAMESON F. CHACE, Departmentof Environmental,Population, and Organismic Biology,University of Colorado,Boulder, Colorado 80309-0334 ABSTRACT: Using real cowbirdeggs, we experimentallyparasitized 41 nestsof the WarblingVireo (Vireo gilvus), three each in BritishColumbia and Colorado, five in Montana, and 30 in Manitoba, and recordedwhether the cowbirdeggs were acceptedor rejected.Cowbird eggs were acceptedat all neststested in British Columbia and Colorado, but both acceptanceand rejectionwere recordedin Montana.In Manitoba,all cowbirdeggs were rejected(29 by puncture-ejection,one bydesertion). The resultssuggest acceptance by a westernsubspecies of the Warbling Vireo, V. g. swainsonii,and rejectionby the easternsubspecies, V. g. gilvus. The geographicvariability in acceptance/rejectionagrees with suggestedtaxonomic differencesfor the WarblingVireo, i.e., that there are two speciesand that neither appearsto vary in responseto the presenceof cowbirdeggs in its nests. Speciesof birdsthat sufferreduced reproductive success when parasitized by Brown-headedCowbirds (J•olothrus ater) shouldevolve strategies that reduceor eliminatethe costsof parasitism,especially because cowbird eggs are distinguishablefrom the eggsof most host species.Adaptations for rejectionof parasiticeggs from nests have evolved in somespecies, but most speciesaccept cowbirdeggs (Rothstein1975, 1990). Why only a few speciesreject cowbird eggs has been attributed to the durationof exposure to the selectivepressure of cowbirdparasitism (Rothstein 1975) or con- straintson the abilityof smallhosts to eject cowbirdeggs from the nest (Rohwerand Spaw 1988). Amongthe ejecterspecies, the largerones grasp and remove cowbirdeggs with their bills, whereasthe smallerspecies puncture-ejectthem (Rohwerand Spaw 1988).
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