For the first time, scientists have found a bird species–Australia’s superb fairy-wren–that can spot a murderer. The killers are chicks of a particularly aggressive cuckoo species. The crime begins ...

Clever birds figure out how to trick others into raising their kids A common Cuckoo chick in Reed Wablers nest waits to be fed with its mouth wide open, in this undated file photo. Getty Images — ...

A parasitic cuckoo chick foisted upon other birds can turn out to be luck in disguise, saving the nest with a disgusting defense. About 1 percent of bird species, including cuckoos, outsource their ...

Spot the impostor: A cuckoo finch chick (left) and a tawny-flanked prinia chick (right) open their beaks for a meal. Photo by Claire Spottiswoode Few examples of parasites in nature are as infamous as ...

The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content. The great spotted cuckoo sneaks its own egg into the nest of carrion crows. The chick grows up as ...

If you come across a young cuckoo in a bird’s nest this summer, you’ll be witness to one of the most bizarre sights in nature. Cuckoo chicks are interlopers in the nests of other species, and they can ...

It's not always easy spotting the cuckoo in the nest. But if you don't, you pay a high price raising someone else's chick. How hosts distinguish impostor eggs from their own has long puzzled ...

Cuckoos are some of nature’s most practiced—and successful—con artists. Many species from this large family of birds are brood parasites. They lay their eggs in the nests of other birds and outsource ...