Behavior

Brood Parasitism

정의

Laying eggs in the nest of another species, which then raises the parasite's young as its own.

상세 설명

The Common Cuckoo is the paradigmatic brood parasite, with distinct host-specific genetic lineages (gentes) laying mimetic eggs that match the eggs of reed warblers, meadow pipits, or dunnocks. The cuckoo chick hatches first and ejects host eggs or nestlings. Hosts evolve egg-recognition defenses, driving an arms race of increasing mimicry. Cowbirds in the Americas parasitize over 200 host species without egg mimicry, relying instead on rapid host-switching to outpace host defenses.

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