... dissimilar blue eggs. Yet, none of these prior studies tested a brown-egg-laying species and, with only one exception, all were conducted in open nests where light levels are considered sufficient for effective color-based egg discrimination. Here, we explored how two cavity-nesting hosts of the parasitic...

... of egg discrimination are thought to be based on the perceived discordancy of eggs in a clutch or the use of recognition templates by hosts. Our experiments reveal that the great reed warbler ( Acrocephalus arundinaceus ), a host of the common cuckoo ( Cuculus canorus ), relies on both mechanisms...