The recording of this program from 5 Mar 2024 is now available online

Could that be a Wooden Cowbird pestering the bluebird?
(photo courtesy of Pablo Weaver)

Recording Glitch: There are two programs recorded here. The first (18 seconds long) is useless; click the forward button >| at lower left of screen to go past it. When the second recording appear, click the usual run button at lower left.

Co-evolving Cowbirds and their Hosts, with Dr. Pablo Weaver

Brood parasites, often vilified as “cheats” have fascinated naturalists since ancient times and inspired the likes of Darwin and Shakespeare with their unique reproductive strategy. In the case of obligate brood parasitism, a species’ entire survival relies on the parental care of another, unsuspecting host species. Brood parasitic relationships have evolved in several animal groups exhibiting parental care, including insects, fish, and birds, with the latter providing fascinating case studies of the complex evolutionary arms race occurring between parasites and their hosts. As parasites adapt to camouflage their eggs and young within host nests, the hosts exhibit remarkable counter adaptations, including egg recognition and counting, that protect their own reproductive efforts from the nest invaders. Dr. Weaver will discuss this fascinating system and present case studies from his own research involving the coevolution of cowbirds and their hosts in the Dominican Republic and Montana.

A pendulating Village Weaver at his nest. (photo courtesy of Pablo Weaver)

Dr. Pablo Weaver is an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of La Verne & the Director of the Neher Montana Research Station. His broad interests include biogeography, ecology, and evolutionary biology. He has several active areas of research, including work with birds and freshwater fishes in both the West Indies and in Montana. His research in the West Indies deals with fundamental questions of biogeography and evolution on islands and how the processes of natural and sexual selection shape diversity. In Montana, he studies the effects of mining and heavy metal contamination on aquatic communities, as well as interactions between parasitic cowbirds and Mountain Bluebirds.

Dr. Pablo Weaver