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List of brood parasitic passerines

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Interspecific brood parasitism evolved twice independently in the order Passeriformes, in the cowbirds (genus Molothrus) and in the family Viduidae. Instead of making nests of their own, and feeding their young, brood parasites deposit their eggs in the nests of other birds.

The vampire ground finch is a parasite, but is not brood parasitic.

Species

Family Viduidae
Common name Scientific name Range Host species
Cuckoo-finch
 Anomalospiza imberbis
(Cabanis, 1868)		 Cisticolidae, most commonly Prinia subflava
Village indigobird
 Vidua chalybeata
(Müller, 1776)		 Lagonosticta senegala, Lagonosticta nitidula
Jambandu indigobird Vidua raricola
Payne, 1982		 Amandava subflava (primary host), possibly Lagonosticta rara
Barka indigobird Vidua larvaticola
Payne, 1982		 Lagonosticta larvata (primary host), Lagonosticta virata
Jos Plateau indigobird Vidua maryae
Payne, 1982		 Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis
Quailfinch indigobird Vidua nigeriae
(Alexander, 1908)		 Ortygospiza atricollis
Dusky indigobird
 Vidua funerea
(de Tarragon, L, 1847)		 Lagonosticta rubricata
Zambezi indigobird Vidua codringtoni
(Neave, 1907)		 Hypargos niveoguttatus (primary host), Hypargos margaritatus
Purple indigobird
 Vidua purpurascens
(Reichenow, 1883)		 Lagonosticta rhodopareia (primary host), possibly Lagonosticta rubricata
Wilson's indigobird Vidua wilsoni
(Hartert, 1901)		 Lagonosticta rufopicta (for V. w. wilsoni), Lagonosticta nitidula (for V. w. incognita)
Cameroon indigobird Vidua camerunensis
(Grote, 1922)		 Lagonosticta rara (primary host), Lagonosticta rubricata, Clytospiza monteiri and Euschistospiza dybowskii
Steel-blue whydah
 Vidua hypocherina
Verreaux & Verreaux, 1856		 Estrilda erythronotos, Estrilda charmosyna
Straw-tailed whydah
 Vidua fischeri
(Reichenow, 1882)		 Unknown, presumed to be Granatina ianthinogaster
Shaft-tailed whydah
 Vidua regia
(Linnaeus, 1766)		 Granatina granatina (primary host), Sporopipes squamifrons, Prinia flavicans
Pin-tailed whydah
 Vidua macroura
(Pallas, 1764)		 Around 17 species in Estrildidae, Cisticolidae, Fringillidae and Emberizidae
Togo paradise whydah Vidua togoensis
(Grote, 1923)		 Presumed to be Pytilia hypogrammica
Exclamatory paradise whydah
 Vidua interjecta
(Grote, 1922)		 Pytilia phoenicoptera (primary host), Pytilia lineata, possibly Pytilia hypogrammica
Long-tailed paradise whydah
 Vidua paradisaea
 Pytilia melba
Sahel paradise whydah
 Vidua orientalis
 Pytilia melba citerior (for V. o. aucupum)
Broad-tailed paradise whydah
 Vidua obtusa
 Pytilia afra
Family Icteridae
Common name Scientific name Range Host species
Shiny cowbird
 Molothrus bonariensis
(Gmelin, JF, 1789)		 At least 102 species
Brown-headed cowbird
 Molothrus ater
(Boddaert, 1783)		 At least 174 species
Screaming cowbird
 Molothrus rufoaxillaris
Cassin, 1866		 Most commonly Agelaioides badius, occasionally four other species
Giant cowbird
 Molothrus oryzivorus
(Gmelin, JF, 1788)		 Corvidae and Icteridae, at least 12 species
Bronzed cowbird
 Molothrus aeneus
(Wagler, 1829)		 At least 48 species

Notes

  1. Some primary host species of Vidua are only known from song mimicry
  2. Suspected from song mimicry
  3. Only includes species known to rear the parasite's young
  4. Gnorimopsar chopi, Pseudoleistes virescens, Cacicus solitarius, and Machetornis rixosa

References

  1. Soler 2017, p. 48.
  2. David Attenborough (1998) . The Life of Birds. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 246. ISBN 0-691-01633-X.
  3. Schluter, Dolph; Grant, Peter R. (1984). "Ecological Correlates of Morphological Evolution in a Darwin's Finch, Geospiza difficilis" (PDF). Evolution. 38 (4): 856–869. doi:10.2307/2408396. hdl:2027.42/137395. JSTOR 2408396. PMID 28555828.
  4. Caves, Eleanor M.; Stevens, Martin; Spottiswoode, Claire N. (2017-05-17). "Does coevolution with a shared parasite drive hosts to partition their defences among species?". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 284 (1854): 20170272. doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.0272. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 5443948. PMID 28515202.
  5. Stevens, Martin; Troscianko, Jolyon; Spottiswoode, Claire N. (2013-09-24). "Repeated targeting of the same hosts by a brood parasite compromises host egg rejection". Nature Communications. 4 (1): 2475. Bibcode:2013NatCo...4.2475S. doi:10.1038/ncomms3475. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 3791459. PMID 24064931.
  6. ^ Lowther, Peter E. (2017-04-18). "Host List of Avian Brood Parasites - 5 - Passeriformes; Viduidae" (PDF). Fields Museum.
  7. ^ Lowther, Peter E. (2024-04-10). "Lists of victims and hosts of the parasitic cowbirds (Molothrus)" (PDF). Field Museum.
  8. Di Giacomo, Alejandro G.; Mahler, Bettina; Reboreda, Juan C. (2010-12-01). "Screaming Cowbird Parasitism of Nests of Solitary Caciques and Cattle Tyrants". The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. 122 (4): 795–799. doi:10.1676/10-002.1. hdl:11336/68702. ISSN 1559-4491.

Works cited

  • Soler, Manuel, ed. (2017). Avian brood parasitism: Behaviour, Ecology, Evolution and Coevolution. Fascinating life sciences. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-73138-4.
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