HOW CUCKOOS TRICK OTHER BIRDS
Discover the cunning parenting of the cuckoo
WORDS AILSA HARVEY
A common cuckoo (Cuculuscanorus)
Cuckoos are masters of deception. When it comes to raising young, they don’t expend the energy building a nest, protecting eggs or feeding offspring. Instead the female passes these roles on to unsuspecting victims. These birds are brood parasites – they don’t raise their own young. They lay their eggs in the nests of other species, tricking them into thinking the eggs are their own. Some of their main targets include dunnocks, meadow pipits and reed warblers.