Examples of sperm competition in polygynandrous vertebrates are found in dunnocks (Prunella modularis) and acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus).
The four major host species for cuckoos in Britain are meadow pipits (Anthus pratensis), reed warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus), pied wagtails (Motacilla alba yarrellii), and dunnocks (Prunella modularis).
Dunnock (Prunella modularis), also called hedge sparrow or hedge accentor, a drab, skulking European songbird, a species of accentor belonging to the family Prunellidae.
Canonical correspondence analysis and preference indices indicated that seven species could be regarded as hedgerow specialists: Dunnock Prunella modularis, Whitethroat Sylvia communis, Lesser Whitethroat S. curruca, Linnet Carduelis cannabina, Goldfinch C. carduelis, Greenfinch C. chloris and Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella.
At the species level, especially pronounced negative effects were evident for dunnock (Prunella modularis) and garden warbler (Sylvia borin); approximately five times more dunnocks were captured in deer exclosures than in browsed vegetation.
Also, populations of dunnock Prunella modularis, which similarly feeds in gardens, but in which T. gallinae was rarely recorded, did not decline.
Similarly, male dunnocks Prunella modularis are less likely to provide paternal care as mate guarding becomes more difficult and, therefore, the risk of cuckoldry increases (Davies 1992).
*Ground-foraging species include invertebrate feeders (Erithacus rubecula through Sturnus vulgaris), insectivores (Prunella modularis and Anthus trivialis), granivores (Aluada arvensis through Emberiza schoeniclus), and herbaceous plant foraging insectivores (Troglodytes troglodytes and Acrocephalus palustris).
The bird species most commonly infested by ticks were Turdus spp., Anthus trivialis, Fringilla coelebs, Sylvia spp., Prunella modularis and Erithacus rubecula, consistent with previous Norwegian studies [ 7, 8, 15, 16].
This definition was justified since, for example, dunnocks Prunella modularis have a high degree of shared paternity in polygynandrous groups, but no extra-pair paternity in monogamous groups [ 28].
The first reported occurrence of the disease in passerines in Britain was in 1988, when robins (Erithacus rubecula), dunnocks (Prunella modularis) and Paridae (tit species) were affected in a garden in south-west England (Simpson and Bevan 1989).
