Formal comment to Soler et al.: Great spotted cuckoo nestlings have no antipredatory effect on magpie or carrion crow host nests in southern Spain

Replicating research is crucial to assess the generality of findings. Yet, in ecology, the complexity of data collection and experimentation often precludes the possibility of going beyond single–population studies. The study by Soler et al. is therefore most welcome, as it provides new insights on the possible role of great spotted cuckoo in protecting the nest of its corvid hosts. In a previous article, we suggested a mechanism based on the malodorous secretion of great spotted cuckoo chicks to explain why the presence of the parasite in the nests of carrion crows in northern Spain increased the probability of nest success (i.e. fledging at least one host chick) as compared to non-parasitized nests. Soler et al. found no evidence supporting an anti-depredatory function of cuckoo chicks in their studied populations and proposed an alternative mechanism that may explain our experimental results. Here we would like to address a) the differences between the results of the two studies and b) the proposed interpretation of our translocation experiment. We will also respond to the concerns raised by Soler et al. on some of the analyses presented in our paper.