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1 March 2006 Provisioning of Fledgling Conspecifics by Males of the Brood-parasitic Cuckoos Chrysococcyx klaas and C. caprius
Irby J. Lovette, Dustin R. Rubenstein, Wilson Nderitu Watetu
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Abstract

Although post-fledging care by adult males seems unlikely in bird species that are obligate, interspecific brood parasites, there have been numerous reports of adult male Chrysococcyx cuckoos apparently feeding conspecific young. Most researchers currently view these observations with skepticism, in large part because Chrysococcyx and other cuckoo species engage in courtship feeding, and it is possible that field observers could mistake adult females receiving food from courting males for fledglings, especially given the similar appearances of females and juveniles. Here, we report an observation of an extended provisioning bout by an adult male Klaas's Cuckoo (C. klaas) feeding a conspecific individual with juvenile plumage and behavior, and we summarize our observations of similar occurrences in the Diederik Cuckoo (C. caprius) in Kenya. We suggest that the available evidence indicates that male provisioning, and hence potential parental care, is present in these brood-parasitic cuckoos at a higher frequency than currently recognized. The mechanism that causes males to associate with fledglings is unknown, but warrants further study.

Irby J. Lovette, Dustin R. Rubenstein, and Wilson Nderitu Watetu "Provisioning of Fledgling Conspecifics by Males of the Brood-parasitic Cuckoos Chrysococcyx klaas and C. caprius," The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 118(1), 99-101, (1 March 2006). https://doi.org/10.1676/1559-4491(2006)118[0099:POFCBM]2.0.CO;2
Received: 20 December 2004; Accepted: 1 September 2005; Published: 1 March 2006
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