Recent studies have shown that the closely related cinereous tit ( Parus cinereus) and green-backed tit ( P. monticolus) in China display strong egg recognition ability in contrast to tit species in Europe, which lack such ability. However, egg recognition in other populations of cinereous and green-backed tits and additional Paridae species still requires further research. Here, we compared the egg recognition abilities of cinereous tits across China, green-backed tits ( P. m. insperatus) in Taiwan, China, and five other species from the Paridae family, including the marsh tit ( Poecile palustris), varied tit ( Sittiparus varius), willow tit ( Poecile montanus), coal tit ( Periparus ater), and ground tit ( Pseudopodoces humilis). Results showed that the Hebei (58.8% egg rejection, n=17) and Liaoning populations (53.3%, n=15) of cinereous tits, and the Guizhou (100%, n=12) and Taiwan populations (75%, n=12) of green-backed tits all exhibited high egg recognition ability. The egg recognition ability of these tits was significantly greater than that of the other five species in the Paridae family. The varied tit (5.4%, n=37), marsh tit (8.3%, n=12), willow tit (Hebei: 25%, n=20; Beijing: 9.5%, n=21), coal tit (16.7%, n=18), and ground tit (0, n=5) species all showed low egg recognition abilities, with no significant differences found among them. Egg recognition was not associated with a single phylogenetic group but occurred in several groups of tits. In particular, those species widely distributed in the Indomalayan realm, thus overlapping with small cuckoo species, displayed strong egg recognition ability, whereas tit species in the Palearctic realm exhibited low or no egg recognition ability.
近期的研究表明，与欧洲的山雀科鸟类如欧亚大山雀( Parus major)不具有对外来寄生卵的识别能力不同，分布于中国的大山雀( P. cinereus)和绿背山雀( P. monticolus)均具有很强的卵识别能力。但这2种山雀的不同地理种群，以及山雀科的其他种类是否也具有卵识别能力尚需进一步研究。本文比较了中国境内大山雀从南到北的不同地理种群、绿背山雀的贵州( P. m. yunnanensis)和台湾种群( P. m. insperatus)，以及山雀科的其他5种鸟类即沼泽山雀( Poecile palustris)、杂色山雀( Sittiparus varius)、褐头山雀( Poecile montanus)、煤山雀( Periparus ater)和地山雀( Pseudopodoces humilis)对外来寄生卵的识别能力。结果表明，大山雀的河北(拒卵率58.8%, n=17)和辽宁种群(53.3%, n=15)，绿背山雀的贵州(100%, n=12)和台湾种群(75%, n=12)均具有很强的卵识别能力，显著高于同一科的其他5种山雀（杂色山雀5.4%, n=37；沼泽山雀8.3%, n=12；褐头山雀的河北种群25%, n=20、北京种群9.5%, n=21；煤山雀16.7%, n=18和地山雀0%, n=5）。5种山雀的卵识别能力没有显著性差异。山雀科鸟类的卵识别能力与系统发育没有相关性，卵识别的进化同时发生于系统发育树的几个支系。特别是，分布在东洋界或分布范围广、与小型寄生性杜鹃同域的山雀种类具有较强的卵识别能力，而分布区狭窄且仅分布于古北界的种类则其卵识别能力很低，甚至没有进化出卵识别能力。本研究支持我们提出的假说：与古北界的山雀相比，东洋界山雀的卵识别能力更强。.
Keywords: Coevolution; Egg recognition; Egg rejection; Multiple-cuckoo system; Paridae.