First case of a Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) egg in a Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus) nest

Jian Fang; Xudong Li; Wei Liang; Jiangping Yu; Haitao Wang; Guodong Yi; Romain Lorrilliere

doi:10.1676/19-00121

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29 December 2021 First case of a Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) egg in a Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus) nest

Jian Fang, Xudong Li, Wei Liang, Jiangping Yu, Haitao Wang, Guodong Yi, Romain Lorrilliere

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The Wilson J. of Ornithology, 133(2):300-303 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1676/19-00121

Abstract

In the breeding season f 2018, we found a much larger egg in one nest of Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus) in Zuojia Nature Reserve, Jilin Province, China. The tit pair abandoned their nest soon after the alien egg hatched, which resulted in the death of the foreign chick. Based on DNA identification, this foreign chick was confirmed as a Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), suggesting that the woodpecker laid or carried one of her own eggs into the tit nest. Limited cavity availability as the woodpecker lost its own nest might have contributed to this occurrence.

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Jian Fang, Xudong Li, Wei Liang, Jiangping Yu, Haitao Wang, Guodong Yi, and Romain Lorrilliere "First case of a Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) egg in a Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus) nest," The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 133(2), 300-303, (29 December 2021). https://doi.org/10.1676/19-00121

Received: 8 November 2019; Accepted: 22 July 2021; Published: 29 December 2021

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