Attractive egg color? Red eggs facilitate egg acceptance in a cavity-nesting host.

Liu, Jianping; Wang, Xingyu; Liang, Wei

This article, published in Current Zoology, explores the role of egg color in the recognition and acceptance of eggs by green-backed tits, a cavity-nesting bird species. The study used model eggs of different colors to test the rejection rates of the eggs by the birds. The results showed that the green-backed tits had high egg recognition abilities and rejected both blue and red model eggs, although the rejection rate was higher for blue eggs. The study suggests that the color of model eggs can influence egg recognition in cavity-nesting hosts and opens up avenues for further research on the evolution of egg mimicry in parasitic cuckoos.

BIRD eggs; BROOD parasitism; EGGS; LOW vision

Current Zoology, 2024, Vol 70, Issue 1, p112

1674-5507

Academic Journal

10.1093/cz/zoad003