Scientific publications

The paper presents the finding of conspecific brood parasitism (CBP) in willow warblers, Phylloscopus trochilus breeding in western Russia. The data set consists of 41 broods and 214 chicks, and the results are based on an analysis of the willow warbler microsatellites Phtr1, Phtr2, and Phtr3. Two chicks (1%, 2 chicks of 214) were in the broods where they were unrelated to both social “parents”, and these two chicks were in two different broods (5%, 2 broods of 41). In each case, the clutch comprised 6 eggs, one of which had been laid in by a parasitic female. In both nests, chicks hatched out of all eggs and fledged successfully. There is no information about a possible relatedness of the parasitic females to the hosts. In addition, the paper reviews other reports of CBP in the genus Phylloscopus, based on brood size, the morphological characteristics of eggs, and observation data. Such reports are considered to be insufficient for CBP confirmation. Currently, the only reliable evidence for CBP is the data obtained by genetic methods.