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Last night at work, while I was flipping through the channels as I have to do, there was a segment on OasisHD that focused on the Cuckoo. If you don't know about this bird, the Mother Cuckoo will lay one of its own eggs in another bird's nest. The Baby Cuckoo hatches earlier and grows faster than most birds, and in what appears to be a genetic instinct, forces other eggs or young out of the nest, leaving all the food for itself. In many cases, the Cuckoo will grow to many times the size of its host mother, sometimes even outgrowing the nest.
We were watching the footage (and it's cruel, seeing it push out other hatchlings, but it's the circle of life) and commenting on what this bird does to survive (essentially, it's considered parasitic). What caught our attention, though, is why some birds identify the Cuckoo egg and dispose of it, and why some birds continue to pay attention to the Cuckoo, feeding it at the expense of its own children. In a related Wikipedia entry, it mentions a "Mafia Hypothesis" in that in some cases the Mother Cuckoo will stick around to ensure that the Host Mother takes care of its child - otherwise, it will attack the mother or the mother's nest/children. *blink* Mafia Birds. O_o
I can just envision Cuckoo birds in fine Italian suits. XD
We were watching the footage (and it's cruel, seeing it push out other hatchlings, but it's the circle of life) and commenting on what this bird does to survive (essentially, it's considered parasitic). What caught our attention, though, is why some birds identify the Cuckoo egg and dispose of it, and why some birds continue to pay attention to the Cuckoo, feeding it at the expense of its own children. In a related Wikipedia entry, it mentions a "Mafia Hypothesis" in that in some cases the Mother Cuckoo will stick around to ensure that the Host Mother takes care of its child - otherwise, it will attack the mother or the mother's nest/children. *blink* Mafia Birds. O_o
I can just envision Cuckoo birds in fine Italian suits. XD