Cuckoo/Koel doesn’t lay eggs in their nests because they are so lazy that they don’t make nests. They lay eggs in the nest of the crows because their eggs are similar to the eggs of the crows. Crows rear the young ones as their own, and this phenomenon is called parasitism or brood parasitism. It is so strange that sometimes cuckoos don’t find a crow’s nest to lay their eggs, and they lay their eggs in smaller bird’s nests like sunbirds and tailorbirds. And it’s so funny that a tiny bird, which is one-fifth of the length of a cuckoo’s juvenile bird, feeds that giant bird, thinking that it’s her own. Such are the miracles of nature. Magnificent.
Although crows and cuckoos are enemies in March/April fights go on to prevent cuckoos/koels from laying eggs in the crow’s nest, but once it happens, it’s parenthood and childhood.
I could catch the crow that reared the chicks of the cuckoo and fed the female cuckoo subadult, thinking that this young one was their own. Juvenile is also lovingly demanding food, thinking that crows are their parents. Love is just love. Parenthood, motherhood, and childhood are all on display. Sharing it with you as I captured it in our colony. Enjoy!
