Social interaction between juvenile and adult brood parasitic cuckoos is rarely documented, but may influence social development, sexual preferences, or song learning. The Striped Cuckoo (Tapera naevia) is a New World brood-parasitic cuckoo that uses counter-singing and duets in reproduction and territory defense. Here, we report the first observations of adult-juvenile social interactions in the Striped Cuckoo. In contrast to their normally solitary lives, juveniles and adults moved and foraged together and engaged in counter-singing and duets. Striped Cuckoo adults often initiated the social interactions and engaged in vigilance behaviors when with the juveniles. We suggest further study to determine if adults are interacting with related juveniles.
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1 March 2015
Social Interactions between Adult and Juvenile Striped Cuckoos (Tapera naevia)
Melissa M. Mark,
Nelson A. Gamez-Rugama
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