Egg recognition and rejection is a common and effective anti-parasitism adaptation in bird hosts. Hosts reject alien eggs using recognition signals such as egg ground color and maculation. Green-backed tits (Parus monticolus) have a highly developed capability for recognizing parasite eggs, but the cues used for egg recognition are unclear. We combined avian visual perceptual modeling and field experiments to explore the effects of egg ground color and maculation on the recognition of parasite eggs. P. monticolus uses a multi-cue with possible hierarchical mechanism for egg recognition. The mechanism of egg recognition in P. monticolus appears to be a specific adaptation to the phenotypes of eggs laid by local brood parasites.

鸡蛋识别和排斥是鸟类宿主中常见且有效的抗寄生虫适应。宿主使用识别信号（例如蛋底颜色和斑点）来拒绝外来蛋。绿背山雀（Parus monticolus）具有高度发达的识别寄生虫卵的能力，但用于识别卵的线索尚不清楚。我们将鸟类视觉感知建模和野外实验相结合，探索了鸡蛋底色和斑点对寄生虫卵识别的影响。P. monticolus使用具有可能分层机制的多线索来识别鸡蛋。P. monticolus中卵子识别的机制似乎是对当地育雏寄生虫产卵表型的特殊适应。