Zhao Meng once heard an idiom called "dove occupying the magpie's nest".
Dove generally refers to a bird like a dove, which is similar to a dove.
This bird will drive away some smaller birds and occupy the property of those smaller birds for breeding.
According to human moral standards,
The behavior of this kind of bird can be regarded as very excessive behavior.
But in the animal kingdom, there is one bird whose behavior is worse than the turtle dove, and that is the cuckoo.
This bird cannot nurse its chicks on its own;
Instead, the eggs are laid into the nests of other birds and let other birds incubate them.
This phenomenon is called "parasitism" in biology
[In the first month, due to your size, the nest's nest can no longer accommodate you, so you can only stand on the branch and receive feeding from the female bird. 】
At this time, Zhao Meng was standing on the branch next to the bird's nest.
And a sparrow landed with a few locusts in its mouth,
Zhao Meng instinctively opened his mouth,
The sparrow tilted its head and looked at the big mouth that could swallow itself.
There seemed to be some doubts in his little black bean-like eyes,
But in the end, he put the locust into the huge mouth and flew away from the nest to continue looking for food for his "own" children.
"You have to leave the nest quickly, otherwise this sparrow will die of exhaustion!"
"The cuckoo is such an uncomfortable bird!"
[In the second month, your wings are getting fuller, and the female bird can no longer feed you, so you start to look for food alone! 】
Because there is no female bird to teach the cuckoo chicks hunting skills,
Therefore, the only things that cuckoos can hunt are some difficult bugs in nature. Dangerous prey such as pine caterpillars and gypsy moths.
“It feels like eating spicy strips!”
Zhao Meng had enough experience as a human being, so he quickly adapted to the cuckoo's feeding habits.
"From a human perspective, this cuckoo is a completely beneficial bird!"
Zhao Meng looked at the pine caterpillars all over the tree and sighed secretly in his heart.
[The third month, eating, growing]
Zhao Meng's body is still growing, and he feels that the breeding season of this bird is coming soon.
"Cuckoo's lifespan is not long. If you be careful this time, you should be able to pass the simulation in one go!"
Looking at the reflection in the water below, Zhao Meng was secretly thinking about something.
[The fourth month, eating, growing, and escaping predators]
As a small to medium-sized bird, cuckoos face many predators.
If it is his first time as a bird, he may be accidentally attacked by those elusive predators.
But he has imitated the fringed snipe and escaped the kestrel many times.
He has sufficient experience in dealing with the predators of these raptors.
"The only thing you have to watch out for are the predators on the ground!"
In this cautious state of life,
Zhao Meng finally waited for the breeding season that he loved to see.
[In the fifth month, you have matured and started to follow the sound to find the female bird! 】
"Cuckoo! Cuckoo!"
"Zigui! Zigui!"
The cuckoos in the breeding season begin to sing in the mountain forests.
Their calls have given rise to two other aliases: cuckoo and cuckoo.
But this is just a name created by human beings through their own cognition.
When these sounds reached Zhao Meng's ears, they had another meaning.
"Come on! It's time to lay eggs!"
Just like an old hen clucking after laying eggs.
Before birds prepare to lay new eggs, they will also look for and call male birds to give new life to their eggs.
And hearing the cry of the female bird,
Zhao Meng also responded a few times, which when translated into adult language, may be understood as:
"Don't worry, I'll come too!"
…
However, the call of the female bird is not only heard by the male bird,
When he arrived at the source of the sound, several male birds had already gathered here.
"Looks like we're going to have another fight!"
Each male bird shows his own figure,
It's like a man in the gym who sees a beautiful woman flexing her muscles.
Zhao Meng is just a newly adult male bird.
Not as good as these old birds that have grown for one or two years.
But with human wisdom and a lot of experience as a human being, he began to provoke the male birds around the female bird to fight with each other.
Taking advantage of the chaos,
He quietly approached the female bird.
…
The cuckoo's process of giving life to its eggs takes a long time, lasting two minutes.
It’s not that Zhao Meng wants to delay time for some purpose.
It's because this parasitic bird has some differences from other birds in its physiological structure.
After the incident, Zhao Meng did not run away immediately like most males in nature.
He and the female bird have an important task to complete next.
He escorts the female bird as she lays her eggs into the nests of other birds.
Zhao Meng and the female bird flew away from the woods,
And the male birds in the forest are still fighting...
[In the sixth month, the female bird successfully laid the egg into the gray magpie's nest. 】
Zhao Meng was relaxing on a branch nearby, observing the movements around him.
Zhao Meng disagrees with the female bird laying eggs into the gray magpie's nest.
The gray magpie is a small to medium-sized bird in the Corvidae family.
Although it does not have the extremely high IQ of a crow.
But the intelligence of this kind of bird is also extraordinary. Zhao Meng was a little worried about whether he would be discovered when he laid his eggs into the gray magpie's nest.
And just when Zhao Meng was secretly worried,
He noticed a gray figure flying in the distance,
He hurriedly called out to warn the female bird. The female bird immediately left the gray magpie's nest when she heard Zhao Meng's voice.
Zhao Meng looked at it from a distance and found that a green egg had appeared in the nest.
"Walk!"
Zhao Meng and the female bird hurriedly flew away from the gray magpie's territory.
Although it is much larger than the gray magpie, this corvid, like its close relatives, is extremely aggressive.
He had just spent a lot of effort to lure him away from the nest and let the female bird lay her eggs in the gray magpie's nest.
"Yeah! Let's continue!"
In the animal kingdom, most organisms adopt the strategy of procreating and reproducing.
This way the continuity of the species can be maintained to the greatest extent possible.
Cuckoo birds also use this strategy,
They will lay eggs in different nests to ensure the success rate of parasitism.
"Hey! The female bird has discovered a new nest!"
Zhao Meng followed the female bird and flew in one direction.
It is risky for a female bird to quietly lay eggs into the nests of other birds.
Therefore, the male bird is needed to provide cover.
Either harass or seduce, in short, the bird guarding the nest cannot notice what is going on in the nest.
"Hiss~ The nest it chose this time is..."
Zhao Meng looked in the direction where the female bird was flying.
I saw an unknown tree covered in thorns.
The appearance of the tree is not important;
The important thing is that there are many carcasses of small animals strung on this tree thorn.
There are sparrows, small snakes, small mice, insects... Some of the corpses have dried up, and some are even infested with insects.
"Why is this female bird still flying up? The birds in this place are not easy to deal with at first glance!"
