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An Investigation Of The Host Specificity Of The Brown-Headed Cowbird, Brian D. Peer
An Investigation Of The Host Specificity Of The Brown-Headed Cowbird, Brian D. Peer
Masters Theses
We attempted to determine the factors associated with the lack of parasitism of the Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) by the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater). We investigated the breeding phenology of the two species, the responses of colonial- and noncolonial-nesting grackles to female cowbird models, the frequency of artificial egg rejection by grackles, incubation success of cowbird eggs transferred into grackle nests, and the survival rates of cowbirds cross-fostered into grackle nests.
By the time cowbirds began egg-laying at our study sites, 88.5 % of all grackle nests were beyond the point of successful parasitism. Grackles responded …