cuckoos

[(John Leonard)]

>I have read somewhere that some cuckoos are able to lay an egg which 
>resembles that of the host.  I don't know whether they are able to lay 
>eggs on demand in a range of designer colours, but it seems a likely 
>adaptation to ensure that their egg is accepted by its unwitting foster 
>parents. 

>Russell Woodford

The European Cuckoo has various host species, but a Cuckoo hatched from the
nest of, say, a Reed Warbler, will return to a Reed Warbler's nest to lay
its eggs and its eggs are closer in colour, pattern and even size to those
of a Reed Warbler, than those of cuckoos hatched in the nest of another
species. I wonder if any of the Australian cuckoos have similar adaptations?


John Leonard
PO Box 243, Woden, ACT 2606, AUSTRALIA
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