In the avian world, cuckoos are the villains you root for. These diabolical birds can trick others into raising the cuckoos' young instead of their own. From a thick playbook of deceptions, one trick cuckoos use is to impersonate local bullies. This apparently convinces their victims to let cuckoos walk right into their nests.
Cuckoos live all over the world, and most species are model citizens, building their own nests and raising their own offspring. But many species are so-called brood parasites, which sneak their eggs into other birds' nests. Some species match the egg's color to their host's eggs to disguise it, while others don't bother, depending how clever their preferred targets are. In certain species, male cuckoos goad the host parents into chasing them off while females creep into the nest and lay their eggs.
The parasitic cuckoo hatches earlier than the other eggs in its nest and ...
