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Cuckoos don't raise their own young. Instead, a female cuckoo lays her eggs in another bird's nest. The cuckoo chick tends to be bigger and grow faster than the host bird's young, outcompeting them for food, and usually ends up killing them.

Some species do seem to realize when a cuckoo egg is laid in their nest and will destroy it or build a new nest on top of the old one and the eggs in it. However, many species seem clueless, even if the cuckoo chick ends up growing much larger than they are.

A few other species are parasitic breeders, including cowbirds.

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12y ago

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