title: Horsfield's hawk-cuckoo nestlings simulate multiple gapes for begging.
abstract: Nestlings of some brood parasitic birds evict hosts' eggs and young soon after hatching, thereby avoiding discrimination by hosts while monopolizing parental care. Eviction carries a cost, however, because lone parasitic nestlings attract a reduced provisioning rate. Here we describe a form of visual signaling used by the evicting Horsfield's hawk-cuckoo (Cuculus fugax) to obtain sufficient food. The chick displays a gape-colored patch on the wing to the host parents as they deliver food, simulating the gaping display of more than one nestling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Rikkyo University, 3-34-1 Nishi-Ikebukuro, Toshima, 171-8501 Tokyo, Japan. keita@zaf.att.ne.jp
authors.forename: Keita D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ueda
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001717:Birds / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D004396:Coloring Agents; D003463:Cues; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D016014:Linear Models; D009425:Nesting Behavior; D010858:Pigmentation; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents