Can common cuckoos discriminate between neighbours and strangers by their calls?

Moskát, Csaba and Elek, Zoltán and Bán, Miklós and Geltsch, Nikoletta and Hauber, Márk E. (2017) Can common cuckoos discriminate between neighbours and strangers by their calls? Animal Behaviour, 126. pp. 253-260. ISSN 0003-3472

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Abstract

Common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) are brood parasites: they lay their eggs in the nests of other bird species, and let manipulate these hosts into incubation their eggs and feed and rear the nestlings. Although cuckoos do not show parental care, they demonstrate complex social interactions, including territorial behaviours and male-to-male aggression. Cuckoos have a well-known and simple two-phase call ("cu" and "coo"), uttered by males during their breeding season. Previous studies suggested that the "cu-coo" call of males is individually unique, allowing discrimination between different classes of males. Using playback experiments in a dense population of radio-tagged cuckoos, we tested whether neighbouring males are tolerated more than unfamiliar intruders: the classic ”Dear Enemy” phenomenon. Focal birds responded more aggressively to the calls of unfamiliar simulated intruders (strangers) than to the calls of conspecifics with whom they shared territorial boundaries (familiar neighbours). Cuckoos responded quickly, within an average of less than half a minute, they often approached the loudspeaker to a proximity of less than 5 - 10 m, even from further distances (up to 80 m), and used their "cu-coo" calls in response. Our results reveal that cuckoos were able to use their simple call for the discrimination of familiar versus unfamiliar individuals, and they did so specifically to aggressively protect their own territories. In turn, cuckoos showed tolerance to nearby conspecifics, e.g., neighbours with overlapping territories and did not respond to control playbacks. Finally, as typically more than one cuckoo was interested in the playbacks, this study confirmed the opportunity for brood parasitic birds to socialize during the breeding season.

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