Looks like cuckoos and cowbirds hardly have a monopoly on brood parasitism. A study of over 69,000 nests around the west coast of Scotland turned up some pretty unlikely culprits. 13 different seabird species, chief among them Common Eider and (Eurasian) Oystercatcher, stand accused of egg dumping or laying their eggs in other birds’ nests. Actually, the act seems less nefarious than oblivious since most incidents place eggs in the nests of predators!
Mike is a leading authority in the field of standardized test preparation, but he's also a traveler who fully expects to see every bird in the world. Besides founding 10,000 Birds in 2003, Mike has also created a number of other entertaining but now extirpated nature blog resources, particularly the Nature Blog Network and I and the Bird.
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