I saw that hypothesis when I was looking for the picture, but it doesn’t apply to the particular picture, where the cuckoo is the only chick in the nest, in fact, too big for even the mother to perch on the rim. That was way beyond the pictures I’d seen before, where the cuckoo is merely bigger than the mother. Actually, the picture doesn’t make sense me: how can the mother provide enough food for this gigantic chick, much bigger than her whole brood?
That seems like pretty strong evidence for the superstimulus hypothesis. Do they also feed chicks of their own species in other nests? Is it just philanderers? otherwise, it sounds like pretty poor fitness.
I saw that hypothesis when I was looking for the picture, but it doesn’t apply to the particular picture, where the cuckoo is the only chick in the nest, in fact, too big for even the mother to perch on the rim. That was way beyond the pictures I’d seen before, where the cuckoo is merely bigger than the mother. Actually, the picture doesn’t make sense me: how can the mother provide enough food for this gigantic chick, much bigger than her whole brood?
Maybe that’s not the mother. Some birds will feed cuckoos in nests not their own.
That’s pretty crazy! I’d like a cite.
That seems like pretty strong evidence for the superstimulus hypothesis. Do they also feed chicks of their own species in other nests? Is it just philanderers? otherwise, it sounds like pretty poor fitness.
I just recall reading it somewhere, sorry. It could easily be wrong. (I did find something talking about a goose feeding a bunch of fish, though.)