Unique egg patterns help drongos avoid getting duped by cuckoos

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Unique egg patterns help drongos avoid getting duped by cuckoos
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Fork-tailed drongos produce individualised patterns on their eggs, which may help them recognise their own and reject 94 per cent of cuckoo eggs

Cuckoos infiltrate the nests of other birds with similar-looking eggs, but drongos have evolved a highly effective way to snuff out the imposters. Their ability to recognise the uniquely patterned marks of their own eggs, like a signature, means they may reject up to 94 per cent of cuckoo eggs.

at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and her colleagues gathered 192 eggs – including 26 that had been laid by cuckoos – from fork-tailed drongo nests in the forests of southern Zambia.Using advanced image-analysis systems, they determined that eggs from the two species had such similar colours, markings, sizes and shapes that they were essentially indistinguishable, even for computer programs.

“It means – at least at our study site – that cuckoo eggs are getting chucked off most of the time,” says Lund. “It really highlights how effective evolution is at creating high rejection rates… because it’s so costly for drongos to raise a cuckoo themselves.

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