Brood parasitism

Brood parasitism is a reproductive strategy in which an animal places its eggs in another animal’s nest, leaving the host to care for the offspring.

Egg mimicry: Resemblance between an egg and other eggs, often in color, pattern, or shape. Some parasites make their eggs resemble the host’s, reducing the chance of rejection.
Common cuckoo: A Eurasian cuckoo species whose females lay eggs in the nests of other bird species. It is a canonical example of an obligate avian brood parasite.
Parental investment: The time and resources parents devote to offspring at a cost to other reproductive opportunities. Brood parasites redirect another animal’s investment toward their own offspring.
Intraspecific brood parasitism: Egg laying in another individual’s nest by a member of the same species. It shares the strategy but differs from interspecific parasitism in the parasite’s identity.
Gene–culture coevolution: Reciprocal evolutionary change between genetic traits and culturally transmitted behaviors. Learned host preferences and inherited parasite traits can interact across generations.
Egg rejection: A host’s recognition and removal of eggs it identifies as foreign. It is a direct defense against parasitic eggs laid in the nest.
Brown-headed cowbird: A North American songbird that lays eggs in the nests of many other bird species. Its broad range of hosts contrasts with parasites specialized on one host.
Parental care: Behaviors by parents that improve offspring survival, such as feeding, guarding, or brooding. The host’s care is the resource a brood parasite exploits.
Obligate brood parasitism: A form of brood parasitism in which a species relies on hosts to raise its offspring. It contrasts with parasites that sometimes raise their own young.
Red Queen hypothesis: The idea that organisms must continually adapt to keep pace with evolving competitors and antagonists. Host defenses and parasite counter-adaptations can create continuing evolutionary change.

Linked from 23 pages