Abstract In altricial birds, to address which cues are used by parents to recognize their offspring, and when they switch between cues during reproduction, it has not been well determined. In this study, we address this question in a Tibetan population of the azure-winged magpie Cyanopica cyanus, by examining the dependence of parents on a nest’s spatial position in offspring recognition. During the egg and nestling phases, azure-winged magpie nests were translocated to new positions across various distances from their original site, and parental responses to the translocated nests were investigated. Our findings show that a nest’s spatial position is not connected with the survival of its young, but might be used as a cue in parental offspring recognition. When nests are translocated to a new position within a certain distance, parents could recognize their nests and returned to resume their parenting behaviors. Parental dependence on the nest’s spatial position in offspring recognition is higher during the egg phase than during the nestling phase, and it decreases with the growth of nestlings. After nestlings reach a certain age, the nest’ s spatial position was no longer used by parents as the single cue for offspring recognition. These findings suggest that azure-winged magpies switch their cues in offspring recognition during the different stages of reproduction. After parent–offspring communication has been established, the offspring’s phenotypic traits may become a more reliable cue than the nest’s spatial position in offspring recognition.

中文翻译：

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随着青翅喜鹊雏鸟的生长，父母在后代识别中对巢穴空间线索的依赖性降低

摘要 在候鸟中，父母使用哪些线索来识别他们的后代，以及它们在繁殖过程中何时在线索之间切换，尚未得到很好的确定。在这项研究中，我们通过检查父母在后代识别中对巢穴空间位置的依赖性，在青翅喜鹊 Cyanopica cyanus 的藏族种群中解决了这个问题。在卵和雏鸟阶段，蓝翅鹊巢被转移到距其原始地点不同距离的新位置，并调查了父母对易位巢的反应。我们的研究结果表明，巢穴的空间位置与其后代的生存无关，但可能被用作亲代后代识别的线索。当巢穴在一定距离内转移到新位置时，父母可以认出他们的巢穴并返回以恢复他们的养育行为。亲本在后代识别中对巢穴空间位置的依赖性在卵期高于雏鸟期，并且随着雏鸟的生长而降低。雏鸟到了一定年龄后，巢的空间位置不再被父母用作识别后代的单一线索。这些发现表明，天蓝色的喜鹊在繁殖的不同阶段改变了它们在后代识别中的线索。亲子间交流建立后，后代的表型特征可能成为比巢在后代识别中的空间位置更可靠的线索。亲本在后代识别中对巢穴空间位置的依赖性在卵期高于雏鸟期，并且随着雏鸟的生长而降低。雏鸟到了一定年龄后，巢的空间位置不再被父母用作识别后代的单一线索。这些发现表明，天蓝色的喜鹊在繁殖的不同阶段改变了它们在后代识别中的线索。亲子间交流建立后，后代的表型特征可能成为比巢在后代识别中的空间位置更可靠的线索。亲本在后代识别中对巢穴空间位置的依赖性在卵期高于雏鸟期，并且随着雏鸟的生长而降低。雏鸟到了一定年龄后，巢的空间位置不再被父母用作识别后代的单一线索。这些发现表明，天蓝色的喜鹊在繁殖的不同阶段改变了它们在后代识别中的线索。亲子间交流建立后，后代的表型特征可能成为比巢在后代识别中的空间位置更可靠的线索。巢的空间位置不再被父母用作识别后代的单一线索。这些发现表明，天蓝色的喜鹊在繁殖的不同阶段改变了它们在后代识别中的线索。在亲代沟通建立后，后代的表型特征可能成为比巢穴在后代识别中的空间位置更可靠的线索。巢的空间位置不再被父母用作识别后代的单一线索。这些发现表明，天蓝色的喜鹊在繁殖的不同阶段改变了它们在后代识别中的线索。亲子间交流建立后，后代的表型特征可能成为比巢在后代识别中的空间位置更可靠的线索。