Interspecies brood parasitism is a behavior that has arisen indecently several times in birds where a “parasitic” species will lay its eggs in the nest of another species of bird and let that bird care for the parasitic chick. Similar behaviors have also been observed in certain species of fish and insects, but those cases are less well studied and understood.
To learn how the behavior develops throughout the bird’s life and what the underlying mechanisms that control brood parasitism are, go to the mechanism and ontogeny page
To learn how brood parasitism benefits the animal, see the adaptive value page.
To learn about the evolutionary history of the behavior, go to the phylogeny and adaptive value page
To learn how brood parasitism benefits the animal, see the adaptive value page.
To learn about the evolutionary history of the behavior, go to the phylogeny and adaptive value page