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Articles on Brood parasitism

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Zebra finches may have the potential to become brood parasites. Keith Gerstung

Bad parenting could give zebra finches the evolutionary edge

Species must reproduce to survive, and animals have found unique ways of achieving this. For some, including us, it seems as though producing a few offspring that require extended care is the best strategy…
Spot the difference. You might succeed but bird hosts fail. piper

Egg colours make cuckoos masters of disguise

Cuckoos are notorious cheats. Instead of building a nest, incubating their eggs and raising their chicks, they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds and leave the task of raising their offspring to…
Little bronze-cuckoo: my eggs are the best. Greg Schechter

Cuckoos beat competition by laying ‘cryptic’ eggs

Cuckoos aren’t the kind of parents you’d want. They never raise their young ones, leaving that job to other birds. They achieve this by laying their eggs in other expectant birds’ nests, who treat them…

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