Co-evolution: A behavioral 'spam filter' to prevent nest parasitism.
A series of recent studies on nest parasitism shows that, in addition to rejection of foreign eggs, host birds also use mobbing behavior to prevent cuckoos from laying eggs in the first place, which has likely led to two interrelated co-evolutionary arms races between cuckoos and their hosts.
Wheatcroft
David J
DJ
University of Chicago, IL 60637, USA. djwheatc@uchicago.edu
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001717:Birds; D001947:Breeding; D006801:Humans; D009425:Nesting Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D012919:Social Behavior