La Tour du Valat

Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes

Titre :	Yellow wing-patch of a nestling Horsfield's hawk cuckoo Cuculus fugax induces miscognition by hosts: mimicking a gape?
Auteurs :	K. D. Tanaka, Auteur ; G. Morimoto, Auteur ; K. Ueda, Auteur
Type de document :	Article
Dans :	Journal of Avian Biology (36(5) SEP 2005)
Article en page(s) :	461-464
Langues:	Anglais
Résumé :	A chick of the Horsfield's hawk cuckoo Cuculus fugax has a vivid yellow skin patch on each wing-bend, which is very similar in colour to its own gape. Almost every time a host parent delivers food, the chick explicitly displays the wing-patch by raising and shaking the wing. We observed that host parents tried to place food onto the wing-patch of the nestling instead of into its mouth. The wing-patch would be perceived as a gape by host parents, possibly resulting in an overestimation of brood size. Signals induced by the wing-patch may vary with the luminosity of environments.

Lundi , mardi et jeudi de 9h à 12h et de 13h à 17h00 : ouverture au public ...