Department of Zoology

Principal Investigators

Research area - Behavioural Ecology

My research interests lie in the evolutionary ecology of African birds, and integrate field experiments with other approaches such as population genetics and sensory ecology. My current work focusses mainly on coevolutionary arms races between brood parasitic birds, such as cuckoos, and the host species they exploit to bear the cost of raising their young. Brood parasitism is seen not only in cuckoos, and my field research in Zambia focuses on two other ancient groups of birds in which a brood parasitic lifestyle has independently evolved: the honeyguides and the parasitic finches. Questions include how parasites have evolved adaptations to exploit different host species, how hosts evolve counter-defences (such as polymorphisms in egg appearance) and how these may change through time, and how host-specific adaptations are inherited within a single parasitic species. My other areas of past and present research include life history evolution, sexual selection, bird migration, and conservation.

For more information, please see: http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/zoostaff/bbe/Spottiswoode/Claire1.htm

Research group - Behavioural Ecology Group

Selected publications

• Spottiswoode, C.N. & Stevens, M. (2011) How to evade a coevolving brood parasite: egg discrimination versus egg variability as host defences. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B doi: 10.1098/rspb.2011.0401

• Spottiswoode, C.N. & Stevens, M. (2010) Visual modeling shows that avian host parents use multiple visual cues in rejecting parasitic eggs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 107: 8672-8676.
• Spottiswoode, C.N. (2010) The evolution of host-specific variation in cuckoo eggshell strength. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 23: 1792-1799.
• Spottiswoode, C.N., Wondafrash, M, Gabremichael, M.N., Dellelegn, Y., Mwangi, M.K., Collar, N.J., Dolman, P.M. (2009) Rangeland degradation is poised to cause Africa’s first recorded avian extinction. Animal Conservation 12: 249-257.
• Spottiswoode, C.N. (2009) Fine-scale life-history variation in Sociable Weavers in relation to colony size. Journal of Animal Ecology 78: 504-512.
• Spottiswoode, C.N. (2008) Cooperative breeding and immunity: a comparative study of PHA response in African birds. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 62: 963-974.
• Spottiswoode C.N., Colebrook-Robjent JFR (2007) Egg puncturing by the brood parasitic Greater Honeyguide and potential host counteradaptations. Behavioral Ecology, 18 :792-799
• Spottiswoode C.N., T øttrup AP, Coppack T (2006) Sexual selection predicts response of migratory birds to climate change. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 273:3023-3029