Cuckoo - Spectacular Insight into the Life of a Con Artist

[Music] everyone knows the call but hardly anyone actually knows who's behind it [Music] the Cocoon makes a point of staying out of sight they smuggle their eggs into strangers nests instead of raising them themselves no no wonder they have few friends in the bird world [Music] they have their offspring brought up by others by dainty singing birds [Music] but this is what's really odd this deception is never revealed even smart birds like crows tolerate a cuckoo in their nest but why recent observations have revealed ever more cunning tricks and machinations of cuckoo and Co foreign [Music] area in the north of Germany with a stalk of trees and Reeds now in Spring It's All About The Offspring raising them is a long and arduous process it all starts with efforts to build a nest the Great Crested green has to waterproof and anchor it on top of that there are the bothersome aggressive neighbors who want to prevent the new home at all cost [Applause] defending it is exhausting until the turns finally move on foreign [Music] the young birds need care and protection [Music] they are helpless nestlings and they're insatiable even after they get bigger they still remain a burden [Music] it's always a wonder what parents invest in their children in terms of care energy and time [Music] but cuckoos save themselves the trouble [Music] the cuckoo neither builds a nest nor takes care of their offspring a brood parasite perfidious some would say they have traveled 5 000 kilometers in order to move back from Africa to European springtime back to the Reed area where they grew up [Music] it's an ideal for the common cuckoo the proximity to water provides a wide variety of insects of all kinds [Music] not that they would hunt them but where there's insects there are also insect-eating Birds and they're their target and they all hate the cuckoo the Reed bunting are not just protesting for any reason they're showing courage [Music] the cuckoo takes it calmly they're not interested in the Reed bunting they know what to look for birds that look like they're foster parents for Reed warblers in their nests in order to slip them they're notorious cuckoo eggs its territory shows a lot of promise it's no surprise that others are also killed so much at the end of the day the cuckoo hen has made it clear who's in charge of this territory including all the nests between the reeds from now on she'll keep a close watch on all of them here it's still early days the Reed warblers are still building this Nest is breeding has just started the best time to make her move but there's a problem the first time they bred these little birds already learned what their eggs looked like this with gray spots any other egg would be suspicious what to do she waits for the moment when the couple leave the nest [Music] she removes one egg and replaces it with one of her own done no Witnesses when the Reed warblers come back everything seems the same there are still four spotted eggs one of them may be a bit bigger but so what a slight hesitation some doubts Maybe but then the deception has worked the egg forger has delivered the goods [Music] one type of egg some deceive red-backed strikes so their eggs look like red-backed shrike eggs [Music] more or less others have targeted common red stars and actually lay bluish eggs like their host Birds these are much harder to distinguish even for humans and what about when the forgery isn't really up to scratch like in this nest it belongs to a marsh warbler who hasn't been even bothered about the unusual cuckoo's egg thus far blers look a lot like Reed warblers but they don't breed up between the Reeds they're further down hidden between the stinging nettles everything is A-Okay in the nest or so it thinks but then something unexpected happens this call seems to shake him up it's getting its hackles up the cuckoo has no business here [Music] [Music] it's driven away the cuckoo for the moment but now it's suspicious and immediately checks the eggs thoroughly one of them the slightly bigger one looks a bit fishy it wants to get it out but how one floor up at the Reed warbler's Nest everything is as it was this female hasn't got a clue about the enemy in her nest unlike the marsh warbler it's fully determined to hack open the egg the shell is extra thick like all cuckoo snakes but in the end there's the Breakthrough and what happens now comes as a surprise even to bird watchers bon appetit pure protein what should have become a cuckoo ends up as concentrated feed for a marsh warbler so Cuckoos don't have it all their own way either the forgery has been discovered and now the Imposter is being disposed of Marsh warblers are particularly good at recognizing unusual looking eggs and the Cuckoos are rarely ever successful their nest is pristine again the competition exists ever since there have been cuckoo birds The Nest owners are more Vigilant with their egg controls and thus the cuckoo must always come up with better forgeries what about the Reed warblers in the reeds they're often too naive their egg control is not that of the marsh warblers unbeknown to them they have a ticking time bomb in their nest the Cuckoo's reputation has never been the best some think they are devious or even evil and yet there is a cuckoo bird which is held in Fairly higher Steam an almost fairy tale-like case from Africa [Music] the morning sun in the tree Savannah of Zambia brings everything to life [Music] only a few creatures shy away from daylight fruit bats are hanging in the trees pulling their covers over their eyes [Music] the birds are all the chirpier they all seem to love the burst of colors only one is so inconspicuous that it almost disappears in the tangle of the branches and and for a good reason the honey guide doesn't want to be seen for like the cuckoo it's surreptitiously lays its eggs in strangers nests it is another brewed parasite but this time one who mainly targets tree holes This one belongs to a barbette but it hasn't started breeding yet that one will have to be left for later the breeding burrow of a hoopo but once again it's the wrong time for a honey guide's egg too late the parents are already bringing in food for their offspring so timing is imperative for the honey guide but for now it's hungry and it likes nothing better than beeswax what a shame that it's barred from entry the guarding bees would attack it what to do the honey guide needs helpers and it knows how to get them [Music] it employs the services of humans for example with Lazaro it pipes up with a rasping sound and flies a little bit ahead waiting for Lazaro to follow they travel hundreds of meters through the Wilderness this way it leads Lazaro follows [Music] their destination has finally been reached fire makes smoke and smoke calms bees a trick as old as humankind and that's how Lazaro can locate the honeycomb as well however it was the bird who found the path no wonder the locals like it no protective suit and no beekeeper's mask Lazaro has to live with numerous stings and more without anything to hold on to and at an unstable height the bees will cope with the loss and replace the honeycomb the man gets the honey and the bird [Music] gets its reward it is the only bird with the ability to digest beeswax [Music] an ideal partner but it insists on fairness without its share it would soon cease its cooperation foreign Enterprise with profit for everybody [Music] thanks be to the honey guide [Music] but it has another dark S as a merciless brood parasite in the breeding season when the laying of eggs begins foreign [Music] digging and burrowing is taking place all around the tree Savannah Subterranean breeding Burrows with an access tunnel to the outside the builders and residents are little bee eaters dainty little birds of the bee eater family this pair have briefly left their clutch of eggs they're taking some time out to get some food from their observation perch they are on the lookout for insects with great skill they intercept them [Music] then it's time to quickly head back underground through the narrow tunnel to the breeding burrow where four eggs are waiting they can only make them out in the dark an infrared camera is necessary to shed some light on this deep basement flat at the very least it seems to be a secure place if only it wasn't for the honey guide with its bad intentions it Stakes out the Burrows a very time-consuming job the Savannah's entire ground is full of holes with dark entrances into the deep foreign ERS come and go unaware of the fact that they are being observed [Music] and the honey guide is under pressure to lay it urgently needs to get rid of its egg [Music] the little beaters burrow with its four eggs seems ideal foreign for a short time it's left unguarded the couple has been too careless the honey guide has been waiting for its chance the parents are out and access is finally unguarded a last check to see if the coast is really clear on the double now it needs to squeeze itself through to the breeding power four eggs a fifth one is quickly added serve finally as a nasty surprise [Music] [Music] back in the Cuckoo's territory in Germany at First Sight not much has changed the aquatic plants are a little denser the Reeds a little more Lush and family life is still at the center of attention but in the Reeds on the banks a dramatic development is on the horizon the Reed warblers have been breeding for 12 days and now the first chick is stirring even the mother seems surprised she has no way of knowing it's someone else's egg [Music] and much less what it's going to bring about it's not for nothing that the little cuckoo hatched first two days ahead of the others but first it's just helpless and hungry the foster parents have to deliver their new chick is still naked and blind but it knows what it wants fresh live insects [Music] the next portion awaits already alone or together parents stuff everything into their offspring grasshoppers flies dragonflies beetles after all they want their chick to grow and get strong quickly and it does just that in excess [Music] it starts tampering with the other eggs with full force it is imperative to throw the competition out of the nest even before it has hatched short break then the jostling is so strong that no more incubating is possible the little cuckoo is taking command of the eggs [Music] failed but it tries again right away [Music] and another time right under the clueless mother's nose [Music] a Brazen move simply throwing the step siblings over the side two fewer Mounds to compete for its food the Reed warblers don't see through What's Happening Here their only concern is the noisy imploring chick it weighs just about three grams and it's hard to conceive that it has the strength to dispose of the last egg as well right over the edge of the nest it doesn't have the ability to grip anything and it's blind too so how is this possible the chick has a sensitive spot on its back and anything it feels there it will push out it's an innate program that little cuckoo it seems is not that friendly but it could be even more brutal in Zambia's tree Savannah the situation is coming to a head here it was the honey guide that was deceiving others with its own eggs and so far the deception has gone unnoticed the bee eaters still seem to be oblivious [Music] for days now they've been taking care of their eggs and in the darkness of their breeding Borough they didn't notice the fifth egg it's a normal breeding routine warm the eggs turn the eggs it's a question of patience but finally the time has come first chick fights to free itself from the shell again it's a few days ahead of schedule it's the honey but for such a small chick it has a sharp hooked beak similar only to one like a bird of prey this does not bode well but so far it's all going as planned parental duties Around the Clock and a few days later the next chick is born blind and no hooked beak effectively it seeks the protection of its siblings a fatal error the honey guide chick attacks indiscriminately until the baby be eater disturbingly to watch succumbs to its injuries and the parents they continue going about their business as if nothing has happened they seem oblivious of the murderous Act not even over the following few days when they gradually lose all the other chicks until the honey guide has the sole Monopoly on the food supply the cuckoo achieves with its egg throwing what the honey guide achieves with its hooked beak but two weeks later the honey guides beak is gone along with its aggression when it leaves the dark cave it also sheds its dark side turns into the lovable honey guide [Music] which will at some point be looking to contact humans in order to guide them to the honey [Music] it knows the way but can't reach it humans can reach it but don't know the way or big little chap wouldn't want to think it was capable of evil in Germany spring has continued to unfold [Music] the air and water become Milder and naturally the young cuckoo has grown to a formidable size a week and a half ago it emptied the nest now it fills it completely no question it's an only child and whatever the Reed warblers bring along lands in its beak [Music] but still it's not enough what is to be done again it manages to get what it needs with tactics and deception it's not just calling loudly and persistently it's cries for food sound like the clamor of an entire Nest crew the choir of chicks Spurs on the parents polyphonic begging cries yield multiple amounts of food the cuckoo seems to be a highly gifted confidence artist even in terms of sounds [Music] but shouldn't the Reed warblers notice something such a huge chick cannot possibly be their own during their first breeding season they learn what their eggs look like why not how their chicks look too but that would be fatal fatal for all Reed wobblers who were taken in by the deception of the cuckoo during their first breeding they would regard their own chicks as aliens for life they would reject them and let them starve to death because they look different from what they initially learned not a good solution so it's always better to follow the motto of whoever shows up in the nest will be raised never mind what they look like and never mind the weather the little Reed warblers know no limits in order to assist their gigantic baby deception manipulation and plain cheating Cuckoos seem to be on top of it all but sometimes they make mistakes too even the honey Guides of the tree Savannah they don't always choose the right borrower at the right time and then everything can unfold in a totally different way it's looking good for the little bee eaters in this burrow two healthy chicks have patched the rest of the eggs seem empty or dead something not uncommon the young birds are still struggling with the delivery of food in the dark they bite at the beak hungrily and then the food gets stuck but the parents are patient they want their baby bee eaters to have it as good as possible apparently the honey guide has spared them and yet this story isn't over yet a few days and nights pass nights in which the tree Savannah is the realm to totally different animals night jars with long trains for wings and now the true owners of the caves come out as well the porcupines are just the sub-tenants [Music] here's the landlord himself the aardvark only dares to venture out of its den at night [Music] it has Mighty claws they're vital to burrow out such Subterranean bunkers the nocturnal party comes to an end foreign [Music] with the first rays of sun a momentous day begins the two little beater chicks have grown their food delivery has worked out pretty well and they quickly Dash back out to get replenishments this time even in reverse all in all the young birds seem to have turned a corner if it weren't for this one egg which is apparently neither empty nor dead another chick is making itself known it can't actually be a killer chick it would have hatched before the others but as we sit honey guides make mistakes too this egg was laid far too late it is a killer chick the hooked beak leaves no room for doubt as soon as it's born it starts it tears into its step siblings it's an instinctive Act but here the victims are older and bigger they tried to shake off the killer chick they drag it through the whole burrow parents suspect nothing they don't see what their youngest is up to that biting is more important than cries for food foreign and even when it's calling out it's so clumsy that the other ones get all the morsels the little honey guide is falling further and further behind its star is waning [Music] barely stand on its legs the others are towering over it only occasionally it brings itself to launch a feeble attack but to no avail [Music] on the contrary the chick initially attacked seems to come to its senses and turns the tables the little honey guide doesn't stand a chance the Revenge of the little bee eaters is no less brutal than that inflicted upon them now it's they who turn the breeding burrow into a burrow of Horror stories of cuckoos always seem to be brutal and murderous but they don't have to be [Music] in Spain at the foot of the Pyrenees the cuckoo and host parents have come to an agreement which benefits both of them [Music] on the one side the stately carrier grows on the other side the great spotted cuckoo it's smaller than the common cuckoo its plumage is spotted and its call is different [Music] it also hails from Africa but it only flies to Spain in springtime as soon as there is enough food [Music] like the hairy caterpillars on pine needles [Music] but first of all they need to find a partner to mate with [Music] our intent on producing offspring Offspring which is supposed to grow up high up in a crow's nest with birds that aren't only strong but also considered to be smart and ruthless of all things and who hardly ever let their nest out of sight did the great spotted cuckoo really choose well [Music] it certainly has to wait until the nest is empty it wouldn't stand a chance against the crows but crafty as it is it will use any chance to shorten its waiting time there's a Janet for example will the crows leave their nest to chase it away [Music] but then others turn up Crow researchers who inspect the nests [Music] foreign by now when the ladder is against the tree the birds have definitely become suspicious they're ready to get themselves to safety [Music] and the cuckoo cleverly uses the brief window of time that's opened up for it time is of the essence now the Cuckoo's egg needs to be laid out with it crows and Crow researchers the great spotted cuckoo deceives them all for itself and although it's hard to believe the new egg will create a positive surprise it almost takes an hour until the crows dared to return to their nest [Music] they know that something has happened and it almost sounds like they are discussing the progress of their brood however what actually awaits them is not such an unusual occurrence [Music] in this area more than half of all Crow's nests are populated with a cuckoo's egg brilliant prospects for the great spotted cuckoo it has also been successful in the nest high up in the tree the chicks have already hatched and although hard to believe and unusual for the bird the baby cuckoo lies peacefully next to its Crow's siblings it's being fed alongside them the little one in front with the light tummy refuse is also part of its life and off they go on the next food tour a parish chicken as baby food they're not called carrying crows for nothing the goitra is filled to the brim then someone stronger discovers the chicken stop the baby cuckoo is simply included in the normal feeding and its pesky constant begging may actually benefit all of them because it constantly keeps the parents on their toes at any rate a cuckoo in the nest increases the success of a brood that's a surprising statistic in ornithology a cuckoo that's an advantage for its crowed parents who would have thought however one can go too far with calls for food [Music] here's a raw egg for breakfast the little cuckoo has consumed the yolk and still doesn't stop its calling it's annoying it annoys the father so much that the dad at some point can't remember what's in the beak and he feeds it to the baller who is certainly no Gourmet it spared all that it's delegated all the kids stuff and it's not the worst option for him even when the weather darkens when the rain and cold are a problem for everyone the little great spotted cuckoo is safe and sound under a black feathery umbrella with all its step siblings [Music] in Germany the cuckoo story has taken a new turn with challenges for both sides [Music] it needs to get onto its own legs the Reed warbler's Nest has become too small for it and now it could fall into the water anytime feeding is not getting easier either [Music] it has become a challenge of great artistry for the foster parents [Music] maybe they need a lot of momentum [Music] buzzing like a hummingbird an attempt to land on the back finally it's successful cuckoo will never meet its real parents face to face but it knows its foster parents all the better their looks their cause it's learned which area they live in where and how they build their nest between Reeds at half height it's becoming an expert on Reed warbler so to speak and that is crucial for its future [Music] in August it will move South back to Africa [Music] it avoids the autumn and winter in Europe without any food and when it gets back in Spring it will go back to the Reed area it knows even if its eyesight isn't the best it knows that there are Reed warblers here it's a rival doesn't go unnoticed [Music] not by the Reed warblers either they noisily try to keep it away but to little avail it will trick them again and slip its eggs into their nests and why this meanness why don't they build their own nests that decision was made millions of years ago when Cuckoos actually still built nests for their offspring [Music] today they still collect nesting material for their females an echo of former times but even back then the cuckoo would sometimes choose a stranger's nest for its egg like many birds do but for them this version was so successful that they stuck with it as their normality maybe it was due to their diet of hairy caterpillars this isn't a problem for adults but it might be for the chicks with the rich mixed food of the foster parents they thrived better this is the general Assumption of ornithologists at any rate the cuckoo lost its ability to raise its own offspring [Music] it is true they trick deceive and even kill but unlike us they don't have a choice human standards of Good and Evil don't apply here they're call announce his springtime but it also announces a bird which For Better or Worse depends on finding substitute parents for its own children [Music]

Channel: Free High-Quality Documentaries

Views: 789,553

Keywords: Free High-Quality Documentaries, HD, Full HD, Quality, offspring, eggs, nest, parasite, tricks

Id: 0f8Z8VM5LNg

Length: 51min 8sec (3068 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 18 2022