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26 January 2023 Asian Koel Removes Nestlings of Elliot's Laughingthrush from Their Nest: Farming or Retaliatory Mafia Behavior?
Hong Zhou, Wei Liang
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Abstract

On 13 June 2021, a video was recorded showing an adult female Asian Koel Eudynamys scolopaceus removing three Elliot's Laughingthrush Trochalopteron elliotii nestlings from a nest in a thicket on the banks of Liqiu River in Xinduqiao Town, Kangding, Sichuan, Southwestern China. This is the first record of an Asian Koel removing nestlings from a potential host's nest. Of the various brood parasitism hypotheses, this behavior is most consistent with the farming hypothesis, further suggesting that farming behavior may be a common strategy used by obligate brood parasites.

© The Ornithological Society of Japan 2023
Hong Zhou and Wei Liang "Asian Koel Removes Nestlings of Elliot's Laughingthrush from Their Nest: Farming or Retaliatory Mafia Behavior?," Ornithological Science 22(1), 93-96, (26 January 2023). https://doi.org/10.2326/osj.22.93
Received: 2 February 2022; Accepted: 2 September 2022; Published: 26 January 2023
KEYWORDS
farming
nest predation
Nestling killing
Obligate brood parasitism
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