Glucocorticoids mediate egg rejection in a brood parasite host

Abstract

Avian brood parasites and their hosts are engaged in a coevolutionary battle that can result in the evolution of sophisticated trickery by parasites and novel defence behaviours in hosts. Despite the clear evolutionary and ecological significance of host behaviour, however, we know very little about the mechanisms that regulate host defences, which limits our understanding of both inter- and intraspecific variation in host responses to parasitism. Here we tested whether corticosterone, a hormone known to be upregulated in hosts exposed to parasitism, also mediates one of the most frequent host defences - the rejection of foreign eggs. We experimentally reduced corticosterone levels in free-living brood parasite hosts, American robins Turdus migratorius, using mitotane and found that the likelihood of model egg rejection was significantly lower in the mitotane-treated birds relative to the sham-treated birds. These results demonstrate a causal link between glucocorticoids and egg rejection in hosts of avian brood parasites, but the physiological and sensory-cognitive pathways that regulate this effect remain unknown.