Intraspecific nest parasitism was studied in a group of colonial Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator) nesting on the Tern Islands of Kouchibouguac National Park in New Brunswick in 1992. Nest parasitism is very common in this colony, and may influence the high rate of nest abandonment observed. Emphasis was placed on determining rates of successful parasitism (i.e. eggs added during the laying period of the hen at that nest), which are evolutionarily significant, and can easily go undetected. Three methods were used to determine if a nest contained egg(s) from another hen: abnormally large clutch size: more than one egg laid per day: and comparisons of DNA fingerprints of the hen versus putative chicks. When eggs were added to a nest during incubation, the nest was also labelled parasitized, but such eggs were not fully incubated (non-term) and thus were not successful. A new method of blood sampling ducklings in pipped eggs was tested and found to have negative effects on survival. As many as 14.8% (13/88) of the ducklings sampled subsequently died. Researchers wishing to use this method should proceed with caution. DNA fingerprinting determined that 50.0% of nests tested (6/12) were successfully parasitized. Two of six parasitized nests would have gone undetected using the other criteria to detect parasitism, thus proving the value of DNA fingerprinting. Of hatched young genetically analyzed, 30.9% (17/55) were parasitic. Nest parasitism appears to be an alternative breeding strategy in this population. Extra-pair copulation, previously unrecorded in this species, was discovered through DNA fingerprinting in two of four nests analyzed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.31244 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Janishevski, Lisa. |
| Contributors | Titman, Rodger (advisor), Kuhnlein, Urs (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Natural Resource Sciences.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001810354, proquestno: MQ70440, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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