For instance, intraspecific
brood parasitism and the accidental adoption of young often occur more frequently in large colonies, where breeding density and reproductive synchrony are generally high (Pierotti, 1991; Brown and Brown, 1989, 2001).
Laying eggs by female birds in the nests of birds of other bird species is termed as
brood parasitism (Lyon and Eadie, 2008; Yang et al., 2010, 2016a; Wang et al., 2013; Nahid et al., 2016).
A single ancient origin of
brood parasitism in African finches: implications for host-parasite co-evolution.
Any species that provides protection or care to its young is susceptible to
brood parasitism, but conditions that drive the evolution of
brood parasitism seem to be narrow [13-16].
A number of species engage the
brood parasitism by laying their eggs in the nest of other host birds.
David Attenborough in his book The Life of Birds succinctly describes the advantages of such an adaptation: "
Brood parasitism relieves the parasitic parent from the investment of rearing young or building nests for the young, enabling them to spend more time on other activities such as foraging and producing offspring.
Interspecific
brood parasitism, a form of social parasitism, is a behavior in which the female of one species deposits her eggs in the nest of another species.
An example of a benefit of
brood parasitism is "exceedingly unusual and cool," says Claire Spottiswoode, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Cambridge.
Among these,
brood parasitism (Payne et al., 2001), brood adoption (Howitz, 1986; Simmons, 1992), and brood mixing (Patterson et al., 1982) are best known.
With a decline in the amount of suitable habitat paired with
brood parasitism by the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater), the Kirthland's warbler population fell to a mere 201 pairs in 1971.
They transplanted pickerelweed plants in the Cache River Wetland, built and posted nesting boxes to research
brood parasitism in bird species, created more than 200 educational binders for local teachers, made and donated children's books to the community's Wetland Center, presented research at a science symposium, created a website and more.
Although rates of
brood parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) are high in some warbler species (Ortega, 1998), there are relatively few published accounts with yellow-throated warblers as the host.