"which produces a cover of foamed-up plant sap resembling saliva; the nymphs are therefore commonly known as spittlebugs and their foam as cuckoo spit, frog spit, or snake spit. The final family in the group, the Machaerotidae, are known as the tube spittlebugs because the nymphs live in calcareous tubes, rather than producing foam as in the other families. The foam serves a number of purposes. It hides the nymph from the view of predators and parasites, and it insulates against heat and cold, thus providing thermal control and also moisture control; without the foam, the insect would quickly dry"
"Cuckoo-finch The cuckoo-finch (""Anomalospiza imberbis""), also known as the parasitic weaver or cuckoo weaver, is a small passerine bird now placed in the family Viduidae with the indigobirds and whydahs. It occurs in grassland in Africa south of the Sahara. The male is mainly yellow and green while the female is buff with dark streaks. The eggs are laid in the nests of other birds. The species was described in 1868 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis based on a specimen from East Africa, probably from the coast opposite Zanzibar. It was initially placed in the genus ""Crithagra"" but later"
"Great spotted cuckoo The great spotted cuckoo (""Clamator glandarius"") is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, which also includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals. The genus name ""clamator"" is Latin for ""shouter"" from ""clamare"", ""to shout"". The specific ""glandarius"" is derived from Latin ""glans, glandis"", ""acorn"". It is widely spread throughout Africa and the Mediterranean Basin. It is a brood parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of corvids, in particular the Eurasian magpie. Unlike the common cuckoo, neither the hen nor the hatched chick of this species evict the host's eggs, but"
"classified as least concern by BirdLife International. The cuckoo-finch typically occurs in pairs or small flocks during the breeding season and larger flocks outside the breeding season. It forages on the ground or perched on the flower heads of grasses or herbs. It feeds mainly on grass seeds. The species is an obligate brood parasite, laying its eggs in the nests of cisticolas and prinias. The eggs are white, pale blue or pink with brown, reddish or violet markings. They are 17–17.3 mm long and 12.5–13 mm wide. The eggs are incubated for 14 days. The young bird fledges after"
"its breast. The fledgling also has a moustache. This cuckoo eats insects and small fruits. It has been seen in mixed-species foraging flocks. It is usually found in thick canopy. Males sing at fixed locations in the canopy, its call being ""chu-chu"" or ""kang-koh"" repeated every two seconds. It also gives a whistling ""peu peu"" that becomes ""hi-hi"" and then stops. It has been observed parasitising Abbott's babbler and the rufous-winged philentoma. In mainland Southeast Asia, the breeding season is June to August. The species is threatened by rapid habitat loss caused by logging, land conversion and forest fires. The"
"disguise itself chemically by secreting saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons to match the scent profile of the host wasp. In these situations, even when the host wasp encounters the cuckoo wasp head on in the dark, the cuckoo wasp remains undetected. Chrysis ignita Chrysis ignita, also known as the ruby-tailed wasp, is a species of cuckoo wasps. Cuckoo wasps are kleptoparasites – they lay their eggs in the nests of other wasp species and their young consume the eggs or larva of the host wasp for sustenance. These wasps have a number of adaptions which have evolved to equip them for"
"small reptiles and hairy caterpillars, which are distasteful to many birds. The great spotted cuckoo's call is a loud ""cher-cher-kri-kri"" and variations. Great spotted cuckoo The great spotted cuckoo (""Clamator glandarius"") is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, which also includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals. The genus name ""clamator"" is Latin for ""shouter"" from ""clamare"", ""to shout"". The specific ""glandarius"" is derived from Latin ""glans, glandis"", ""acorn"". It is widely spread throughout Africa and the Mediterranean Basin. It is a brood parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of corvids, in particular"
"cuckoo wasp ""Chrysis ignita"" is known to be a kleptoparasite of ""A. scoticus"" and it is probable that ""Chrysis rutiliventris"" is also a kleptoparasite of this species. There are three recognised subspecies of ""Ancistrocerus scoticus"": Ancistrocerus scoticus Ancistrocerus scoticus is a Palearctic species of potter wasp. ""Ancistrocerus scoticus"" is not easy to distinguish from some sympatric congeners and is frequently misidentified as ""Ancistrocerus trimarginatus"". In most of its range this species is mainly black with yellow tergal bands but in western Scotland and coastal Ireland these bands are coloured ivory-white. ""Ancistrocerus scoticus"" occurs throughout the Palearctic from Ireland south to"
"Several species are migratory. These are vocal species, with persistent and loud calls. They feed on large insects, with hairy caterpillars, which are distasteful to many birds, being a speciality. One or two species will also take some fruit. ""Cuculus"" cuckoos are brood parasites, that is, they lay a single egg in the nests of various passerine hosts. The best-known example is the European common cuckoo. The female cuckoo in each case replaces one of the host’s eggs with one of her own. The cuckoo egg hatches earlier than the host’s, and the chick grows faster; in most cases the"
"and early summer, and its distinctive call was considered the first sign of spring. It is a nest parasite, and the female really does eat an egg of the host species when she lays her own egg in the nest. It is an important bird in folklore. The cuckoo has traditionally been associated with sexual incontinence and infidelity. An old name for the cuckoo was ""cuckold's chorister"", and old broadsides played on the idea that the cuckoo's call was a reproach to husbands whose wives were unfaithful: The smith that on his anvill the iron hard doth ding: He cannot"
"The European cuckoo, a brood parasite, has also been found to have their own species of mite even though the parents and offspring never interact (but see Lindholm ""et al."", 1998) Proctophyllodinae Pterodectinae Proctophyllodidae The Proctophyllodidae are a family of the Acarina (mite) order Astigmata. They contain many feather mites. The Alloptidae and Trouessartiidae were in earlier times included here as subfamilies. Proctophyllodidae females are extremely similar among species and sometimes even hard to assign to a genus, while males vary much more. Two subfamilies are generally recognized, the Proctophyllodinae and the Pterodectinae. The main difference is that the female"
"Like many other cuckoos, they are brood-parasitic and hosts recorded include the common iora, red-whiskered bulbul, white-bellied erpornis, scarlet minivet, bulbuls and small babblers (""Stachyris"" spp.). The eggs resemble those of the hosts. The incubation and nesting are not well documented. Fledglings of the host are evicted. Populations are often migratory or partially migratory. In India, they are found mainly during the monsoons. They are found in well-wooded forests, mainly in hill areas. Insects are their primary diet. They capture insects by gleaning as well as by aerial sallying. The breeding season varies widely from region to region. Near Bombay"
"cuckoo occurs between July and December. The pallid cuckoo is a generalist brood parasite. Brood parasites lay their eggs in the nests of other species, abandoning their egg and leaving it to the care of the host bird whose nest it is in. If the host does not detect the intrusion and subsequently reject the egg it will raise the resulting chick as its own. It is recorded to have exploited over 100 different species of passerines, though all major hosts belong to the family Meliphagidae. Common host species include honeyeaters, Australasian robins and willy wagtails. Pallid cuckoo The pallid"
"They are usually black with white hair stripes. Legs maybe red or black. The females of ""Coelioxys"" species have a long pointed abdomen that resembles a cone, used to pierce the leaf lining in the laying of eggs. The male's abdomen is armed with spines or teeth. These cuckoo bees are usually active from June to September, depending on the specific host species. They have no pollen-carrying adaptations, as they do not need to provision nests. Adults feed on nectar at flowers of a wide range of different nectar plants. In fact they mainly lay their eggs in the nests"
"the cuckoo chick can hatch before the host's chicks do, and it can eject the unhatched eggs from the nest. Scientists incubated common cuckoo eggs for 24 hours at the bird's body temperature of , and examined the embryos, which were found ""much more advanced"" than those of other species studied. The idea of 'internal incubation' was first put forward in 1802 and 18th and 19th Century egg collectors had reported finding that cuckoo embryos were more advanced than those of the host species. The naked, altricial chick hatches after 11–13 days. It methodically evicts all host progeny from host"
"Cuckoo bee The term cuckoo bee is used for a variety of different bee lineages which have evolved the kleptoparasitic behaviour of laying their eggs in the nests of other bees, reminiscent of the behavior of cuckoo birds. The name is perhaps best applied to the apid subfamily Nomadinae, but is commonly used in Europe to mean bumblebees ""Bombus"" subgenus ""Psithyrus"". Females of cuckoo bees can be easily recognized in almost all cases, as they lack pollen collecting structures (the scopa) and do not construct their own nests. They often have reduced body hair, abnormally thick and/or heavily sculptured exoskeleton,"
"Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo The Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo (""Hierococcyx nisicolor""), also known as the whistling hawk-cuckoo is a species of cuckoo found in north-eastern India, Myanmar, southern China and southeast Asia. Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo is a brood parasite. The chick evicts bona fide residents of the parasitized nest, thus becoming the sole occupant. Under normal circumstances, this would reduce the provisioning rate as the foster parents see only one gape. To counteract this, the Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo displays gape-coloured patches of skin under its wing to simulate additional gapes; the strategy appears to increase the provisioning rate. This is in contrast to other species of"
"from the nest. Sibling relatedness in a brood also influences the level of sibling-sibling conflict. In a study on passerine birds, it was found that chicks begged more loudly in species with higher levels of extra-pair paternity. Some animals deceive other species into providing all parental care. These brood parasites selfishly exploit their hosts' parents and host offspring. The common cuckoo is a well known example of a brood parasite. Female cuckoos lay a single egg in the nest of the host species and when the cuckoo chick hatches, it ejects all the host eggs and young. Other examples of"
"The black cuckoo feeds mainly on hairy caterpillars but also consumes termites and ants, including winged ones caught in flight, beetles, grasshoppers and other insects, as well as birds' eggs and nestlings. The black cuckoo is a brood parasite. Its main hosts are bushshrikes, particularly the tropical boubou and crimson-breasted shrike. When parasitising the boubou, the eggs hatch after about fourteen days, three days before the boubou's eggs. The cuckoo chick evicts other eggs and nestlings usually within thirty hours of hatching. It is fledged in about sixteen days and leaves the nest a few days later. The foster parents"
"due to their later start to breeding. Both parents participate in removing faecal sacs from the nest. Parents have been observed feeding young up to five weeks after leaving the nest. The fan-tailed cuckoo (""Cacomantis flabelliformis"") and pallid cuckoo (""C. pallidus"") have been recorded as brood parasites of the flame robin; female cuckoos lay their eggs in robin nests, which are then raised by the robins as their own. One fan-tailed cuckoo was recorded ejecting baby robins before being raised by its foster parents. Other nest predators recorded include the grey shrikethrush (""Colluricincla harmonica""), pied currawong (""Strepera graculina""), and eastern"
"water only from dew and spray picked up from plant leaves suggesting that it may have been the basis for the idea that the ""chatak"" only drank raindrops. To compound the issues with matching vernacular names, it has been pointed out that in Bengal ""chātak"" also refers to skylarks (which are also crested). Jacobin cuckoo The Jacobin cuckoo, pied cuckoo, or pied crested cuckoo (""Clamator jacobinus"") is a member of the cuckoo order of birds that is found in Africa and Asia. It is partially migratory and in India, it has been considered a harbinger of the monsoon rains due"
"lay eggs in the nests of other birds (most often the closely related black-billed cuckoo), but they are not obligate brood parasites of other birds as is the common cuckoo of Eurasia. Yellow-billed cuckoo The yellow-billed cuckoo (""Coccyzus americanus"") is a cuckoo. Common folk-names for this bird in the southern United States are rain crow and storm crow. These likely refer to the bird's habit of calling on hot days, often presaging rain or thunderstorms. The genus name is from Ancient Greek , which means to call like a common cuckoo, and ""americana"" means ""of America"". Adults have a long"
"of the parasitic species lay coloured eggs to match those of their passerine hosts. The young of all species are altricial. Non-parasitic cuckoos leave the nest before they can fly, and some New World species have the shortest incubation periods among birds. About 56 of the Old World species and 3 of the New World species (pheasant, pavonine, and striped) are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other birds. These species are obligate brood parasites, meaning that they only reproduce in this fashion. The best-known example is the European common cuckoo. In addition to the above noted"
"It is usually solitary and highly vocal and lives on forests and plantations. It eats insects including hairy caterpillars, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, slugs, snails, small vertebrates and berries. The red-chested cuckoo takes on more than a single mate (it is polygamous). The nesting habit of red-chested cuckoo is to use the nest of another bird (brood parasitism). About fifteen different species of small bird are parasitised but the most common hosts are the Cape robin-chat (""Cossypha caffra""), the Cape wagtail (""Motacilla capensis"") and the white-throated robin-chat (""Cossypha humeralis""). The surrogate family then raise the chick. The bird lays eggs which"
"mainly on insects and their larvae, foraging for them in trees and bushes as well as on the ground. It is usually secretive and hard to see. It is a brood parasite, laying its eggs in the nests of other birds. The nests of ""Phylloscopus"" warblers such as the Arctic warbler, eastern crowned warbler, willow warbler and chiffchaff are commonly used. Other hosts include the olive-backed pipit and Asian stubtail. The eggs are smooth, slightly glossy and vary in colour, sometimes mimicking those of the host species. They are incubated for about 12 days. The young cuckoo is born naked"
"to August in the Malay Peninsula. The host species include ""Lanius cristatus"" in the Amur region, black drongo and ""Pica cyanea"" in China. In India, they have been found to be fed by black drongos and ashy drongo. Other hosts that have been recorded include black-headed oriole, streaked spiderhunter, ""Eurylaimus ochromalus"" and ""Dicrurus paradiseus"". The eggs of the cuckoo hatch in 12 days while those of the brown shrike in the Amur region take 15 days. During the third or fourth day, the young bird bends its back when touched and heaves out other eggs or nestlings. This instinct is"
"October. They spread out to Stewart and Chatham Islands and are found to an altitude of 4000 ft. Insectivorous, the shining bronze-cuckoo eats insects that are avoided by other birds, such as caterpillars, particularly those of the magpie moth, and beetles, particularly ladybirds. The shining bronze cuckoo's gizzard is lined with a soft thick lining which catches the caterpillar spines; these fall away and are spat out by the bird. A female shining bronze-cuckoo lays a single egg in a host nest and removes a host egg. After hatching, the baby cuckoo ejects the host nestlings from the nest. The"
"allows the progeny to be nurtured without energy expenditure or parental care by the true parent. Cuckoos are brood parasites that lay their eggs to match the color and pattern of their host's own eggs. Different species of cuckoo hathclings have been known to mimic the acoustic sound, such as during begging, and appearance of the host offspring. Unlike most vertebrates that perform aggressive mimicry, certain brood parasitic birds display signals of two distinct modalities at the same time. For example, Horsfield's bronze cuckoo nestlings have been found to employ both acoustic and visual sensory modalities at the same time"
"of bees in the genus ""Megachile"", but also in the nests of ""Osmia"" and ""Anthophora"", on their provisions of pollen. As this behavior is similar to that of cuckoos, such bees are sometimes referred to as ""cuckoo bees"". These host-parasite relationships are quite complex. The larvae of ""Coelioxys"" species kill the host larvae with their strongly developed mandibles and feed on the host’s pollen provisions. They spin a cocoon at 11–16 days. These species are usually univoltine, but for some species a second generation is possible. Coelioxys Coelioxys, common name leaf-cutting cuckoo bees or sharp-tailed bees , is a genus"
"Jacobin cuckoo The Jacobin cuckoo, pied cuckoo, or pied crested cuckoo (""Clamator jacobinus"") is a member of the cuckoo order of birds that is found in Africa and Asia. It is partially migratory and in India, it has been considered a harbinger of the monsoon rains due to the timing of its arrival. It has been associated with a bird in Indian mythology and poetry, known as the ""chataka"" (Sanskrit: चातक) represented as a bird with a beak on its head that waits for rains to quench its thirst. The Jacobin cuckoo was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc,"
"Upon leaving, the fledglings will remain hidden in cover nearby for one or two days before venturing further afield, up to away by the third day. Parents will stop feeding their fledglings near the end of the second week, as the young birds increasingly forage for themselves, and soon afterwards drive them out of the territory. The female pallid cuckoo (""Cuculus pallidus"") will lay eggs in a willie wagtail nest, although the hosts often recognise and eject the foreign eggs, so successful brood parasitism is rare. Parasitism by the fan-tailed (""Cacomantis flabelliformis""), brush, (""C. variolosus""), Horsfield's bronze (""Chrysococcyx basalis""), and"
"cuckoos (once in Cuculinae, Phaenicophaeinae, and in Neomorphinae-Crotophaginae); a single origin in Old World honeyguides (Indicatoridae); and in a single species of waterfowl, the black-headed duck (""Heteronetta atricapilla""). Most avian brood parasites are specialists which parasitize only a single host species or a small group of closely related host species, but four out of the five parasitic cowbirds (all except the screaming cowbird) are generalists which parasitize a wide variety of hosts; the brown-headed cowbird has 221 known hosts. They usually lay only one egg per nest, although in some cases, particularly the cowbirds, several females may use the same"
"cuckoos and pearl-spotted owlets or snakes. When mobbing the owlet it crouches, raises its head and shoulders and flicks its tail, the snakes are mobbed by hovering, rattling calls and bill snapping. It is an arboreal forager and its insect prey is mostly gleaned from foliage, in the outer patrts of branches, sometimes on trunks or stems but almost never on the ground. It will flycatch or hawk insects in the air, making sallies of up to 2m to catch prey from a perch, has also been known to impale larger prey on thorns. The fork-tailed drongo has been recorded"