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CLUTCH CHARACTERISTICS AND EGG DISCRIMINATIVE ABILITY OF THE AFRICAN VILLAGE WEAVERBIRD PLOCEUS CUCULLATUS
Author(s) -
Victoria J. K.
Publication year - 1972
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.1972.tb00834.x
Subject(s) - biology , nest (protein structural motif) , hatching , brood parasite , avian clutch size , zoology , ecology , parasitism , reproduction , host (biology) , biochemistry
Summary Over a three‐year period, 917 eggs from 27 females were collected from a captive colony of African Village Weaverbirds Ploceus c. cucullatus. A study was made of egg‐laying and incubation behaviour, clutch characteristics and egg recognition. Fifteen yearling females laid their first clutches at a mean age of 348 days after hatching. The mean clutch‐size was 2.26 in adults and 1.68 in yearlings. The mean clutch replacement interval was 6.6 days in adults and 7.4 days in yearlings with an absolute minimum of 4 days. Eggs were laid at intervals of from 24 to 26 hours beginning usually 2–3 hours after dawn. The eggs laid by this species vary in ground colour and pattern of spotting between different females, but egg pigmentation is constant for each individual bird. The results of 322 egg‐replacement tests showed that an individual female could recognise her own egg type and would eject from the nest eggs differing markedly from her own. The incidence of rejection was proportional the degree of difference between the eggs. The possible implications for parasitism by the Didric Cuckoo Chrysococcyx cuprius are discussed.