5 Birds that lay eggs in other birds nests

Shweta | Sep 04, 2025, 22:17 IST

Highlight of the story: When we imagine birds, we think of careful parents who nest and lay eggs and hatchlings. Not every bird does this plan. Other species have developed an entirely new approach to parenting: they do not bother to hatch their eggs and lay them into the nests of other birds. This is an interesting phenomenon known as brood parasitism that enables them to transfer their genes without having to care about their kids. Five of these notorious birds, which play this cunning trick, we will see.

The Common Cuckoo

The Grey Deceiver

( Image credit : Freepik )

Perhaps the most famous nest hijacker in the bird world, the common cuckoo has even given rise to the phrase “cuckooing.” A female cuckoo carefully watches her host bird, usually small songbirds like warblers or pipits, and sneaks in to lay her egg in their nest. The cuckoo chick also tends to hatch sooner than the host eggs, and worse still, it may crowd out other eggs or chicks in a nest to have exclusive food. The unsuspecting foster parents then go to work to feed the cuckoo chick which is now usually larger than them.

Brown-Headed Cowbird

The Glossy Cowbird

( Image credit : Freepik )

Another typical example of a brood parasite can be found in North America, the brown-headed cowbird.Unlike cuckoos, cowbirds don’t usually destroy the host’s eggs, but their chicks grow faster and outcompete the others for food. What makes cowbirds even more interesting is their “mafia-like” behavior. If the host bird recognizes the foreign egg and ejects it, cowbirds have been known to retaliate by destroying the host’s nest. This pressure forces many species to tolerate the cowbird egg and raise the chick.

The Koel

The Summer Songbird

( Image credit : Freepik )

The Asian koel has a bad reputation of laying eggs in crows in India. Crows are good and protective parents, making them the best foster parents to the koel chicks. Koels lay their eggs with such accuracy, that they make certain that their eggs are mixed with those of the crow. After hatching the little koel has all the advantage of crow parenting, and usually grows up cleaner and stronger than it would have been in a nest of its own.No wonder the koel’s distinctive call is heard far and wide every summer.

The Honeyguide

The Modest Honeyguide

( Image credit : Freepik )

Native to Africa, the greater honeyguide takes brood parasitism to brutal extremes. The honeyguide chick hatches with a sharp, hook-like beak. Its first instinct is to kill the host’s chicks, ensuring it gets all the food. This brutal survival strategy is paralleled by an equally intriguing adult behaviour: Honeyguides willingly show humans and other animals such as honey badgers the location of honeybees so they all can benefit in the feast after the hive has been pried open.

The Indigobird

The Shimmering Indigobird

( Image credit : Freepik )

An African indigobird is a specialist nest-parasite of estrildid finches. The only thing different about them is the spectacular degree of imitation. In addition to their egg color resembling that of their hosts, indigobird chicks mimic the mouth markings and begging calls of the finch chicks. Such deception deceives the foster parents to feed them without doubt.It’s an elaborate act of deception perfected by evolution.

Why Do They Do It?

Brood parasitism may be considered inhumane but in nature it is a matter of survival. Outsourcing parental responsibilities also helps these birds save energy to spawn more eggs in more nests, and it improves the chances that some of their chicks will make it. Host birds on the other hand are continuously developing defenses, as in detecting foreign eggs, or more recently in nest construction by the affected birds. The trickster and victim are engaged in a continual evolutionary arms race.

Birds that hatch the eggs in bird nests help us to remember how amazingly diverse the world of animals is in terms of survival tactics. The intelligent cuckoo has deceived us; the merciless honeyguide has betrayed us; these two species demonstrate the wisdom of nature in its manifold tricks. You may want to ask yourself the next time you hear a koel calling, or you see a crow busily feeding his chicks, are they raising their own, or another?

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Which bird lays eggs in the nest of other words?
It is a kind of parasitism which is found in birds where a parasitic bird lays its eggs in the nest of its host (other birds) and lets the host incubate them.Which bird lays eggs in a crows nest?
The bird that lays eggs in crows' nests is the cuckoo, specifically the Asian koel in the crow's case, which exhibits a type of parasitic behavior known as brood parasitism.Do peacocks lay eggs?
No, peacocks do not lay eggs; their female counterparts, called peahens, lay eggs.Do pigeons lay eggs?
Yes, pigeons lay eggs.Do starlings lay eggs in other bird nests?
Starlings also push the eggs out of nests and lay their own eggs in their place.

5 Birds that lay eggs in other birds nests

The Common Cuckoo

Brown-Headed Cowbird

The Koel

The Honeyguide

The Indigobird

Why Do They Do It?

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