Natural History Wanderings

BBC Nature reports a new study reveals more about Cuckoos egg laying strategies. It has long been know that they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. The belief that the Cuckoos would sneak in when  birds were off the nest and surreptitiously lay their eggs has been proved false. New observations show this is not the case. Cuckoos go to the nests of Magpies and actually push the Magpies off of the next. Even though the Magpies attack the Cuckoos, they tolerate the attack and go ahead to quickly lay their eggs before flying off. The Magpies still end up raising the young of the Cuckoos. Read more at: BBC Nature – Cuckoos’ shameless egg-laying tactics revealed.