List of brood parasitic passerines

Interspecific brood parasitism evolved twice independently in the order Passeriformes, in the cowbirds (genus Molothrus) and in the family Viduidae.^[1] Instead of making nests of their own, and feeding their young, brood parasites deposit their eggs in the nests of other birds.^[2]

The vampire ground finch is a parasite, but is not brood parasitic.^[3]

Species

Family Viduidae
Common name	Scientific name	Host species^[a]
Cuckoo-finch	Anomalospiza imberbis (Cabanis, 1868)	Cisticolidae,^[4] most commonly Prinia subflava^[5]
Village indigobird	Vidua chalybeata (Müller, 1776)	Lagonosticta senegala, Lagonosticta nitidula^[6]
Jambandu indigobird	Vidua raricola Payne, 1982	Amandava subflava (primary host), possibly Lagonosticta rara^[6]
Barka indigobird	Vidua larvaticola Payne, 1982	Lagonosticta larvata (primary host), Lagonosticta virata^[6]
Jos Plateau indigobird	Vidua maryae Payne, 1982	Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis^[b]^[6]
Quailfinch indigobird	Vidua nigeriae (Alexander, 1908)	Ortygospiza atricollis^[6]
Dusky indigobird	Vidua funerea (de Tarragon, L, 1847)	Lagonosticta rubricata^[6]
Zambezi indigobird	Vidua codringtoni (Neave, 1907)	Hypargos niveoguttatus (primary host), Hypargos margaritatus^[6]
Purple indigobird	Vidua purpurascens (Reichenow, 1883)	Lagonosticta rhodopareia (primary host), possibly Lagonosticta rubricata^[6]
Wilson's indigobird	Vidua wilsoni (Hartert, 1901)	Lagonosticta rufopicta (for V. w. wilsoni), Lagonosticta nitidula (for V. w. incognita)^[6]
Cameroon indigobird	Vidua camerunensis (Grote, 1922)	Lagonosticta rara (primary host), Lagonosticta rubricata, Clytospiza monteiri and Euschistospiza dybowskii^[6]
Steel-blue whydah	Vidua hypocherina Verreaux & Verreaux, 1856	Estrilda erythronotos, Estrilda charmosyna^[6]
Straw-tailed whydah	Vidua fischeri (Reichenow, 1882)	Unknown, presumed to be Granatina ianthinogaster^[6]
Shaft-tailed whydah	Vidua regia (Linnaeus, 1766)	Granatina granatina (primary host), Sporopipes squamifrons, Prinia flavicans^[6]
Pin-tailed whydah	Vidua macroura (Pallas, 1764)	Around 17 species in Estrildidae, Cisticolidae, Fringillidae and Emberizidae^[6]
Togo paradise whydah	Vidua togoensis (Grote, 1923)	Presumed to be Pytilia hypogrammica^[6]
Exclamatory paradise whydah	Vidua interjecta (Grote, 1922)	Pytilia phoenicoptera (primary host), Pytilia lineata, possibly Pytilia hypogrammica^[6]
Long-tailed paradise whydah	Vidua paradisaea	Pytilia melba^[6]
Sahel paradise whydah	Vidua orientalis	Pytilia melba citerior (for V. o. aucupum)^[6]
Broad-tailed paradise whydah	Vidua obtusa	Pytilia afra^[6]

Family Icteridae
Common name	Scientific name	Host species^[c]
Shiny cowbird	Molothrus bonariensis (Gmelin, JF, 1789)	At least 102 species^[7]
Brown-headed cowbird	Molothrus ater (Boddaert, 1783)	At least 174 species^[7]
Screaming cowbird	Molothrus rufoaxillaris Cassin, 1866	Most commonly Agelaioides badius, occasionally four other species^[d]^[8]
Giant cowbird	Molothrus oryzivorus (Gmelin, JF, 1788)	Corvidae and Icteridae, at least 12 species^[7]
Bronzed cowbird	Molothrus aeneus (Wagler, 1829)	At least 48 species^[7]

Notes

^ Some primary host species of Vidua are only known from song mimicry
^ Suspected from song mimicry
^ Only includes species known to rear the parasite's young
^ Gnorimopsar chopi, Pseudoleistes virescens, Cacicus solitarius, and Machetornis rixosa

References

^ Soler 2017, p. 48.
^ David Attenborough (1998) [1998]. The Life of Birds. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 246. ISBN 0-691-01633-X.
^ Schluter, Dolph; Grant, Peter R. (1984). "Ecological Correlates of Morphological Evolution in a Darwin's Finch, Geospiza difficilis" (PDF). Evolution. 38 (4): 856–869. doi:10.2307/2408396. hdl:2027.42/137395. JSTOR 2408396. PMID 28555828.
^ Caves, Eleanor M.; Stevens, Martin; Spottiswoode, Claire N. (2017-05-17). "Does coevolution with a shared parasite drive hosts to partition their defences among species?". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 284 (1854): 20170272. doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.0272. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 5443948. PMID 28515202.
^ Stevens, Martin; Troscianko, Jolyon; Spottiswoode, Claire N. (2013-09-24). "Repeated targeting of the same hosts by a brood parasite compromises host egg rejection". Nature Communications. 4 (1): 2475. Bibcode:2013NatCo...4.2475S. doi:10.1038/ncomms3475. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 3791459. PMID 24064931.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s Lowther, Peter E. (2017-04-18). "Host List of Avian Brood Parasites - 5 - Passeriformes; Viduidae" (PDF). Fields Museum.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Lowther, Peter E. (2024-04-10). "Lists of victims and hosts of the parasitic cowbirds (Molothrus)" (PDF). Field Museum.
^ Di Giacomo, Alejandro G.; Mahler, Bettina; Reboreda, Juan C. (2010-12-01). "Screaming Cowbird Parasitism of Nests of Solitary Caciques and Cattle Tyrants". The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. 122 (4): 795–799. doi:10.1676/10-002.1. hdl:11336/68702. ISSN 1559-4491.

Works cited

Soler, Manuel, ed. (2017). Avian brood parasitism: Behaviour, Ecology, Evolution and Coevolution. Fascinating life sciences. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-73138-4.

[4] Some primary host species of Vidua are only known from song mimicry

[song-8] Suspected from song mimicry

[9] Only includes species known to rear the parasite's young

[11] Gnorimopsar chopi, Pseudoleistes virescens, Cacicus solitarius, and Machetornis rixosa

[FOOTNOTESoler201748-1] Soler 2017, p. 48.

[2] David Attenborough (1998) [1998]. The Life of Birds. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 246. ISBN 0-691-01633-X.

[3] Schluter, Dolph; Grant, Peter R. (1984). "Ecological Correlates of Morphological Evolution in a Darwin's Finch, Geospiza difficilis" (PDF). Evolution. 38 (4): 856–869. doi:10.2307/2408396. hdl:2027.42/137395. JSTOR 2408396. PMID 28555828.

[5] Caves, Eleanor M.; Stevens, Martin; Spottiswoode, Claire N. (2017-05-17). "Does coevolution with a shared parasite drive hosts to partition their defences among species?". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 284 (1854): 20170272. doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.0272. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 5443948. PMID 28515202.

[6] Stevens, Martin; Troscianko, Jolyon; Spottiswoode, Claire N. (2013-09-24). "Repeated targeting of the same hosts by a brood parasite compromises host egg rejection". Nature Communications. 4 (1): 2475. Bibcode:2013NatCo...4.2475S. doi:10.1038/ncomms3475. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 3791459. PMID 24064931.

[lowther2017-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s Lowther, Peter E. (2017-04-18). "Host List of Avian Brood Parasites - 5 - Passeriformes; Viduidae" (PDF). Fields Museum.

[cowbird-10] Lowther, Peter E. (2024-04-10). "Lists of victims and hosts of the parasitic cowbirds (Molothrus)" (PDF). Field Museum.

[12] Di Giacomo, Alejandro G.; Mahler, Bettina; Reboreda, Juan C. (2010-12-01). "Screaming Cowbird Parasitism of Nests of Solitary Caciques and Cattle Tyrants". The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. 122 (4): 795–799. doi:10.1676/10-002.1. hdl:11336/68702. ISSN 1559-4491.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[a]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[b]

[c]

[7]

[d]

[8]