Nature Communications (Aug 2020)
Ecological uncertainty favours the diversification of host use in avian brood parasites
Abstract
Nearly 17% of all bird species are hosts to obligate brood parasites like the common cuckoo. Antonson et al. show that parasite species hedge their reproductive bets by outsourcing parental care to a greater variety of host species when the rearing environment for their young is more unpredictable.