Premium
NEST PARASITISM AND DISPLAY OF CHESTNUT SPARROWS IN A COLONY OF GREY‐CAPPED SOCIAL WEAVERS
Author(s) -
Payne Robert B.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
ibis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.933
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1474-919X
pISSN - 0019-1019
DOI - 10.1111/j.1474-919x.1969.tb02546.x
Subject(s) - passer , sparrow , courtship , courtship display , nest (protein structural motif) , biology , brood parasite , seasonal breeder , nest box , zoology , ecology , parasitism , host (biology) , biochemistry
Summary. Chestnut Sparrows Passer eminibey near Magadi, Kenya, built no nests of their own but usurped nests newly built by Grey‐capped Social Weavers Pseudonigrita arnaudi. The sparrows laid eggs and raised their own young in the appropriated nests. The sparrows were synchronized in their breeding with the social weavers but appeared to have a slightly later peak of breeding. Breeding of the sparrows may be stimulated by the sight of breeding activity of the social weavers. Breeding occurred in May and June at the end of a rainy season. Male Chestnut Sparrows display at the nests with the wings raised. The display is given for several hours each day. Examination of nests built by the social weavers is an element of courtship display by the male sparrow. In the subfamily Passerinae there is a greater difference in the form of the courtship display between the Chestnut Sparrow and other species of Passer than between nest‐building species of Passer and other genera. The display of Chestnut Sparrows is derived from the nest‐advertisement display of nest‐building Passer. Its exaggerated form may be an adaptation related to pair formation and intrapair sexual stimulation in the absence of male nest‐building behaviour.