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Young World
Godfather Cuckoo
R. KRITHIKA
Ever thought of protection rackets in an avian setting? Research shows that birds like cuckoos, which lay their eggs in another bird's nest, use brutal and intimidatory tactics to get the other birds to raise their chicks. Researchers at Copenhagen University found 10 years ago that the great spotted cuckoo would destroy the eggs and chicks of the birds that rejected their eggs. Now James Hoover at the Illinois Natural History Survey in Champaign has found that American cowbirds have a bigger racket going. Cowbirds, which are not related to the cuckoo, lay their eggs in the nests of wild warblers and Hoover was interested in finding out what would happen if the warbler rejected the cowbird's eggs. Hoover and his colleagues set up 180 nests for warblers and waited for the cowbird to lay its eggs. Then they removed the cowbird's eggs. Sure enough there was retaliation — the warbler's nest was vandalised and its eggs destroyed. The warbler would be forced to rebuild its nest elsewhere with the cowbird spying on it and sneaking in to lay its eggs. Hoover points out that the warblers benefit by accepting and raising the cowbird's chicks.
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