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Cuckoos beg doggedly to trick hosts
Baby cuckoos, whose small beaks won't stimulate their reed warbler hosts to feed them enough, compensate by calling persistently.
References:
Kilner, R.M., D.G. Noble, and N.B. Davies. 1999. Signals of need in parent-offspring communication and their exploitation by the common cuckoo. Nature 397(Feb. 25):667.
Mock, D.W. 1999. Driving parents cuckoo. Nature 397(Feb. 25):647.
Sources:
Nick B. Davies
University of Cambridge
Department of Zoology
Downing Street
Cambridge CB2 3EJ
United Kingdom
Rebecca M. Kilner
University of Cambridge
Department of Zoology
Downing Street
Cambridge CB2 3EJ
United Kingdom
Douglas W. Mock
University of Oklahoma
Department of Zoology
730 Van Vleet Oval
Norman, OK 73019
From Science News, Vol. 155, No. 10, March 6, 1999, p. 158. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.
