Cainism and Siblicide

[Felis silvestris]

Definition "Cainism", "Siblicide" and "Brood Reduction":


Translated from the German Wikipedia article about Kainismus:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kainismus

The term "cainism" in ornithology decribes the killing of a younger sibling by an older. The name is based on the Old Testament story of the fratricide between Cain and Abel.

The use of the term in the ornithological literature is not uniform. Many authors refer to any killing of siblings as cainism. More specifically the term is used only for those species in which the killing is inborn. To distinguish the latter species from the other, hence the term mandatory/obligatory cainism is often used.

The killing is done by pushing away from food and / or by direct attacks. Usually the dead body is not eaten, but it is often fed by the parent birds. While with many species of birds the nest killing of siblings during malnutrition is common, the act of killing is independent of the food situation in species with obligatory cainism. Mandatory cainism is similar to the inherent nest clearing behaviour of the Cuckoo and can be also triggered experimentally, for example by presenting a white cloth ball to the young bird. The attacks of the older towards the younger siblings usually begin with the day of hatching of the latter. Most of the younger birds survive only a few days. The parents do not hamper these attacks, it has been repeatedly observed that the older young bird continued his attacks even when a parent bird would feed him. The roles of "Cain" and "Abel" are determined solely by the sequence of hatch, in experimental transposition of "Abel" to a younger sibling, this "Abel" immediately took over the role of "Cain" and attacked the younger nestling. In further experiments on Verreaux's eagle eagles, the aggressiveness of the siblings lasted at least until the completion of the major plumage growth. The nest of the species with obligatory cainism usually consists of two eggs. That's why if both eggs hatch, only the older nestling survives.

Siblicide:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siblicide


Brood Reduction:

http://www.tulane.edu/~bfleury/birds/bi ... ction2.rtf

According to this document:

- siblicide in raptors is called cainism and 23 species of Falconiformes are known to be siblicidal (Simmons (*) 1988)
- raptors generally lay two eggs, but rarely hatch more than one chick
- the first hatched chick usually kills the second chick
...
- Simmons (1988) defines cainism as siblicide in the absence of food shortage
...
- the surviving chick should:
> fledge at a higher weight
> be better able to whitstand the period of high juvenile mortality
> be better able to compete for limited nesting sites
...

(*) Robert Simmons: Offspring quality and the evolution of cainism in: Ibis 130.1988, 4, p. 339–357

(Online available through Wiley Online Library by purchasing or finding an institution with online access: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... x/abstract)

More on siblicidal brood reduction:

Siblicidal Brood Reduction: The Prey-Size Hypothesis by Douglas W. Mock in: The American Naturalist 125.1985,3 p. 327-343

(Online available fee-based through JSTOR: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2 ... 2128148813 )



A book to read about this subject would be:

Douglas Mock: More than kin and less than kind : the evolution of family conflict

Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006
ISBN-10: 0674022483
ISBN-13: 978-0674022485

(available through your library, bookstore or Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/0674022483)

[Felis silvestris]

Bird species of which cainism is known to occur:

Obligatory cainism:

Eagles:

Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina) Schreiadler
Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga) Schelladler
Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) Steinadler
Verreaux‘s Eagle, Black Eagle (Aquila verreauxii) Kaffernadler
Crowned Eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus) Kronenadler
Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax) Keilschwanzadler
Wahlberg's Eagle (Aquila wahlbergi)
Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax) Raubadler
Madagascar Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vociferoides) Madagaskarseeadler (not to be mixed up with Haliaeetus vocifer!)

Other raptors:

Augur Buzzard (Buteo augur) Augurbussard
Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) Lämmergeier

Other birds

Birds of the Sula genus like:
Nazca Booby (Sula granti) Nazkatölpel
Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra) Maskentölpel
Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) Weißbauchtölpel
(some members of this species are known for facultative siblicide)

Birds of the Stercorariidae family

Whooping cranes (Grus americana) - mentioned by D. Mock, pp 54-55, interesting birds in general (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whooping_crane)




Facultative cainism

Black Kite (Milvus migrans) Schwarzmilan
Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle (Geranoaetus melanoleucus) Blaubussard
Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus) Adlerbussard
Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) Östlicher Kaiseradler
Spanish Imperial Eagle, Iberian Imperial Eagle or Adalbert's Eagle (Aquila adalberti) Spanischer Kaiseradler


A special place must be awarded to the Harpye Eagle (Harpia harpyja) Harpyie, which must be one step ahead of the LSE in evolution. The female regularly lays two eggs, but as soon as the first chick hatches, the second egg will be ignored and no longer incubated. Incubation takes about 56 days, the chick fledges with 6 months (!), but parents continue to feed it for another 6 to 10 months.

This lists are not intended to be exhaustive. Additions are welcome!

[Felis silvestris]

Papers and articles on cainism

Full text where no link is added is available by Purchase Instant Access or by finding a Subscribing Institution


You want to know where you can get the papers or articles posted here?

You can use WorldCat.org: http://www.worldcat.org/?&lang=en
and type or copy the title into the search screen.
WorldCat connects you to more than 10.000 libraries worldwide.

Use Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog for your search: http://www.ubka.uni-karlsruhe.de/kvk_en.html
The Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog KVK is a meta search interface which allows you to access library and book trade catalogs online via Internet. KVK starts a simultaneous search in the catalogs and gives you a standardized hit list. As the Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog does not have a own database it depends on the availability of the target systems.



Index



1. Wendland, Victor: Zwanzigjährige Beobachtungen über den Schreiadler Aquila pomarina. 1951
viewtopic.php?p=252940#p252940

2. Wendland, Victor: Problem des vorzeitigen Sterbens von jungen Greifvögeln und Eulen. 1958
viewtopic.php?p=252947#p252947

3. Sladek, J.: Zum Problem des vorzeitigen Absterbens des zweiten Jungen beim Schreiadler (Aquila pomarina BREHM). 1959
viewtopic.php?p=252951#p252951

4. Gargett, Valerie: The Cain and Abel conflict in the Augur Buzzard. 1970
viewtopic.php?p=252954#p252954

5. Gargett, Valerie: Black Eagle Experiment no. 2. 1970
viewtopic.php?p=252957#p252957

6. Meyburg, B.-U.: Sibbling aggression and mortality among nestling eagles. 1974
viewtopic.php?p=252966#p252966

7. Meyburg, B.-U. Clutch size, nestling aggression and breeding success of the Spanish Imperial Eagle. 1974
viewtopic.php?p=252971#p252971

8. Zimmermann, D. R.: They fight eagle's curse of Cain. 1974
viewtopic.php?p=252975#p252975

9. Gargett, Valerie: A 13-year population study of the black eagles in the Matopos, Rhodesia, 1964- 1976. 1977
viewtopic.php?p=252979#p252979

10. Brown, L. H. and V. Gargett, P. Steyn: Breeding success in some African eagles related to theories about sibling aggression and its effects. 1977
viewtopic.php?p=253022#p253022

11. Gargett, Valerie: Sibling aggression in the Black Eagle in the Matopos, Rhodesia. 1978
viewtopic.php?p=253023#p253023

12. Meyburg, B.-U.: Productivity manipulation in wild eagles. 1978
viewtopic.php?p=253024#p253024

13. O'Connor, Raymond J.: Brood reduction in birds: Selection for fratricide, infanticide and suicide? 1978
viewtopic.php?p=253025#p253025

14. Stinson, Christopher H.: On the selective advantage of fratricide in raptors. 1979
viewtopic.php?p=253029#p253029

15. Thaler, Ellen und Helmut Pechlahner: Cainism in the Lammergeier or Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus aureus at Innsbruck Alpenzoo. 1980
viewtopic.php?p=253035#p253035

16. Edwards, T. C, Jr. and M. W. Collopy: Obligate and facultative brood reduction in eagles: an examination of factors that influence fratricide. 1983
viewtopic.php?p=253037#p253037

17. Meyburg, B.-U.: The significance for captive breeding programmes of fratricide and cainism in birds of prey. 1984
viewtopic.php?p=253041#p253041

18. Collopy, Michael W.: Parental care and feeding ecology of golden eagle nestlings. 1984
viewtopic.php?p=253043#p253043

19. Bortolotti, Gary R.: Evolution of growth rates in eagles. 1986
viewtopic.php?p=253045#p253045

20. Glaubrecht, M.: [Cainism in eagles]. 1986
viewtopic.php?p=253048#p253048

[Felis silvestris]

21. Simmons, Robert: Offspring quality and the evolution of cainism. 1988
viewtopic.php?p=253057#p253057

22. Kanuch, P.: The first photographic evidence of nesting of the Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina) with two fledged chicks without human help in Czechoslovaki. 1989
viewtopic.php?p=253059#p253059

23. Simmons, Robert: The Cain and Abel riddle in eagles and other birds. 1989
viewtopic.php?p=253062#p253062

24. Mock, Douglas W. and Hugh Drummond and Christopher Stinson: Avian siblicide. 1990
viewtopic.php?p=253063#p253063

25. Meyburg, B.-U. and Z. Pielowski: Cainism in the Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga. 1991
viewtopic.php?p=253074#p253074

26. Godfray, H. C. J. and Geoffrey A. Parker: Sibling competition, parent-offspring conflict and clutch size. 1992
viewtopic.php?p=253079#p253079

27. Haraszthy, L. and J. Bagyura and T. Szitta: Zum Kainismus des Schreiadlers Aquila pomarina und seiner Verhinderung. 1996
viewtopic.php?p=253087#p253087

28. Meyburg, B.-U.: Untersuchungen zum Kainismus beim Schreiadler Aquila pomarina mittels ferngesteuerter Videokamera. 1996
viewtopic.php?p=253092#p253092

29. Gerhard, Richard and Dawn M. Gerhardt and Miguel Angel Vasque: Siblicide in Swallow-tailed Kites. 1997
viewtopic.php?p=253098#p253098

30. Simmons, Robert: Why don't all siblicidal eagles lay insurance eggs? The egg quality hypothesis. 1997
viewtopic.php?p=253103#p253103

31. Mock, Douglas W. and Geoffrey A. Parker: Siblicide, family conflict and the evolutionary limits of selfishness. 1998
viewtopic.php?p=253107#p253107

32. Meyburg, B.-U.: Zum Kainismus beim Schreiadler Aquila pomarina. 1999
viewtopic.php?p=253108#p253108

33. Watson, Richard T. and Razafindramanana, S., Thorstrom & Rafanomezantsoa, S.: Breeding biology, extra-pair birds, productivity, siblicide and conservation of the Madagascar Fish Eagle. 1999
viewtopic.php?p=253115#p253115

34. Javier Viñuela: Sibling aggression, hatching asynchrony, and nestling mortality in the black kite (Milvus migrans). 1999
viewtopic.php?p=253118#p253118

35. Meyburg, B.-U.: On Cainism in the Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina) and a possible explanation for the phenomenon in this and other eagle species. 2000
viewtopic.php?p=253121#p253121

36. Simmons, Robert: Siblicide provides food for raptor chicks: re-evaluating brood manipulation studies. 2002
viewtopic.php?p=253123#p253123

37. Margalida, Antoni and Joan Bertran, Jennifer Boudet, Rafael Heredia: Hatching asynchrony, sibling aggression and cannibalism in the Bearded Vulture. 2004
viewtopic.php?p=253125#p253125

38. Simmons, Robert: Blood brothers: the mystery of killing kin in the nest. 2004
viewtopic.php?p=253127#p253127

39. Meyburg, B.-U. and Kai Graszynski / Torsten Langgemach / Paul Sömmer / Ugis Bergmanis: Cainism, nestling management in Germany in 2004-2007 and satellite tracking of juveniles in the Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina). 2008
viewtopic.php?p=253129#p253129

40. Drummond, Hugh and Cristina Rodríguez, Hubert Schwabl: Do mothers regulate facultative and obligate siblicide by differentially provisioning eggs with hormones? 2008
viewtopic.php?p=253130#p253130


41. Wang, Ning and Rebecca T. Kimball: Nestmate killing by obligate brood parasitic chicks: is this linked to obligate siblicidal behavior? 2012
viewtopic.php?p=253358#p253358

42. Meyburg, B.-U.: Sibling Aggression and Cross-fostering of Eagles. 1978
viewtopic.php?p=271690#p271690

[Felis silvestris]

Index page 3

[Felis silvestris]

1. Wendland, Victor: Zwanzigjährige Beobachtungen über den Schreiadler Aquila pomarina. 1951

Die Vogelwelt, 72.1951 p. 4-11

In German language, no free online resource

[Felis silvestris]

2. Wendland, Victor: Problem des vorzeitigen Sterbens von jungen Greifvögeln und Eulen. 1958

Die Vogelwarte, 72.1958 p. 186-191

In German language, no free online resource

[Felis silvestris]

3. Sladek, J.: Zum Problem des vorzeitigen Absterbens des zweiten Jungen beim Schreiadler (Aquila pomarina BREHM)

Biologija, Bratislava, 14.1959 p. 448-454

In Slovak language with German summary, no free online resource

[Felis silvestris]

4. Gargett, Valerie: The Cain and Abel conflict in the Augur Buzzard. 1970

Ostrich, 41.1970, 4 p. 256-257

No free online resource

[Felis silvestris]

5. Gargett, Valerie: Black Eagle Experiment no. 2. 1970

Bokmakierie, 22 p. 32-35

No free online resource

[Felis silvestris]

6. Meyburg,B.-U.: Sibbling aggression and mortality among nestling eagles. 1974

Ibis, 116.1974, 2 p. 224-228

No free online resource - available through Wiley Online Library

[Felis silvestris]

7. Meyburg, B.-U.; Clutch size, nestling aggression and breeding success of the Spanish Imperial Eagle. 1974

British Birds, 80.1987, July p. 308-320

Online ressource published 1987:
http://www.raptor-research.de/pdfs/a_rp400p/a_rp402.pdf

[Felis silvestris]

8. Zimmermann, D. R.: They fight eagle's curse of Cain. 1974

Smithsonian, 5.1974, p. 78-83

No free online resource

[Felis silvestris]

9. Gargett, Valerie: A 13-year population study of the black eagles in the Matopos, Rhodesia, 1964- 1976. 1977

Ostrich, 48.1977, 1/2 p. 17-27

No free online resource - available through Taylor & Francis online

[Felis silvestris]

10. Brown, L. H. and V. Gargett, P. Steyn: Breeding success in some African eagles related to theories about sibling aggression and its effects. 1977

Ostrich, 48.1977, 3/4 p. 65-71

No free online resource - available through Taylor & Francis online

[Felis silvestris]

11. Gargett, Valerie: Sibling aggression in the Black Eagle in the Matopos, Rhodesia. 1978

Ostrich, 49.1978, 2 p. 57-63

No free online resource - available through Taylor & Francis online

[Felis silvestris]

12. Meyburg, B.-U.: Productivity manipulation in wild eagles. 1978

in:
Geer, T.A. (ed.): Birds of Prey Management Techniques. Oxford: British Falconers' Club, 1978, p. 81-83

No free online resource

[Felis silvestris]

13. O'Connor, Raymond J.: Brood reduction in birds: Selection for fratricide, infanticide and suicide? 1978

Animal Behaviour, 26.1978, 1 p. 79-96

No free online resource - available through Elsevier - Science direct

[Felis silvestris]

14. Stinson, Christopher H.: On the selective advantage of fratricide in raptors. 1979

Evolution, 33.1979, 4 p. p. 1219-1225

No free online resource - available through JSTOR

[Felis silvestris]

15. Thaler, Ellen und Helmut Pechlahner: Cainism in the Lammergeier or Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus aureus at Innsbruck Alpenzoo. 1980

International Zoo Yearbook, 20.1980, 1 p. 278-280

No free online resource - available through Wiley Online Library